Why Would Anyone Prefer A Laptop To A Book or Magazine?

[John Clark]

I enjoy using my computer in general, but for reading, I prefer books.

I've heard good things about the Kindle (and the like) but haven't seen what they are like to read from. When I do, I might change my mind. I do know that the electronic ones would be very useful for vacations though

 

[Holdfast]

Totally OT, but who is that in you avatar?

It really bugging me that I can't place her.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

I guess it's just words at the end of the day. How you choose to read them (book, laptop, back of a cereal packet) is up to yourself.

Personally, books have been around for centuries, and they'll continue to be around for centuries to come. I can't see them dying out yet, and if push comes to shove, there's only one way to read things without a power socket. Reading from a computer screen is undoubtedly a sign of things to come, as the issue of paper recycling and dwindling Earth resources comes to light, although one would have to balance this with the running costs (in terms of electrical energy) for the electronic screen.

And cereal packets? I like Bran Flakes.

 

[TorontoTrekker]

Totally OT, but who is that in you avatar?

It really bugging me that I can't place her.

It looks like Ellen Muth (George from "Dead Like Me"), but about 15 pounds heavier than she was the last couple of times I've seen her, so I'm not certain.

 

[John Clark]

Totally OT, but who is that in you avatar?

It really bugging me that I can't place her.

TorontoTrekker is correct.

It's Ellen Muth and the pic is from the first episode of Dead Like Me

 

[LaxScrutiny]

One reason that hasn't been mentioned - I would imagine that it's easier to annotate e-books if you want to be able to refer back to a passage for some reason. (I refuse to write in books - I don't even write in magazines that I'm going to discard.)

I'm probably in the minority, but I can do this much easier with books than any other medium.

My memory is excellent, and if I vaguely remember a passage, I know it happened "just after Mrs Campbell fell down the stairs in chapter 8.." It's really easy for me to flip the pages and find what I want in about 10 seconds.

I can't do that with electronic media, even with advanced search functions, because my memory isn't photographic and I won't remember an exact phrase to search for. And calling up a search function and adding parameters and going through 10 possibilities takes longer, much longer.

Plus the added feature of having fingers, and being able to flip back and forth between two or more pages at will to compare.

I've been reading books too long, and come up with too many personal techniques for using them quickly, efficiently and pleasurably.

 

[Holdfast]

Totally OT, but who is that in you avatar?

It really bugging me that I can't place her.

TorontoTrekker is correct.

It's Ellen Muth and the pic is from the first episode of Dead Like Me

Thanks to both of you! She has an eye-catching expression on her face.

 

[kimc]

[When you see the Kindle, and the fact that they have pretty much made the experience like a real book, combined with the availability of hundreds of thousands of books and bestsellers at a cheaper price than books, it looks like a lot of people are going to make the switch. The old sci-fi dream that people will eventually find printed paper quaint looks to slowly be coming true.

RAMA

Does the Kindle come with that fresh ink smell?

I imagine many will go that way but for me the sensuality of a book already described by others in this thread will always be a draw.

 

[DanTheGrey]

I'm torn on this one mostly because I read paper books a lot, but at the same time I don't know what I'd do without my PDA and ebooks.

I think where the PDA comes in is that I can have a number of books in a relatively slim case that I can read even if the light is dim. I love it for trips and other occasions where I need to travel light and don't have the room for roughly a book every 2 - 3 days. Also books can be a bit unwieldy to just carry in a pocket compared to something keeping track of my meetings, phone calls, basic web surfing etc etc.

That being said I never read books on a computer screen. I just can't enjoy reading without the book or PDA being in my hand...

 

[RJDiogenes]

I'm torn on this one mostly because I read paper books a lot, but at the same time I don't know what I'd do without my PDA and ebooks.

Good point. There's no reason why it has to be one or the other.