I do prefer reading physical books, but I almost exclusively read on my ereader because of easy availability of whatever I want, and it doesn’t take up tons of space like books do.
Yeah pretty much my thinking as well. Almost all my physical books are in a box in a wardrobe cause I have nowhere else to put them. It’s a sad state to end in for a piece of literature, isn’t it?
Give them away! I have a bunch of books on my shelf, my friend asked me, “how many of those have you even read?” And I said, probably around half of them. He scoffed. As if I were just buying books…for the look? I dunno. But all of my previously read books get “loaned out” and never return. Which is fine! Plenty of people have lent me books that I never returned. It’s the circle of life.
My whole family has tried getting me on e-readers because I’ve always been the reader of the family, but…I read a few books on it and then never used it again. It was fine, but I love my physical books. When I was traveling overseas for a few years, I had like six books in my bag. Which, yeah, maybe an e-reader would’ve been smarter at that point, but every single book I was reading I gave to someone to enjoy when I finished. And people gave me books when I finished mine! It’s such a great system. I also love shopping for used books…that part may be a bit of an addiction lol
Actually, it’s a great suggestion. However that small box I’m left with is that post-donation elite group, the ones that have sentimental value. I haven’t bought physical books in years, I borrow at the library. I don’t read fiction nearly as much as I used to, sadly… Teenage me, who read anywhere from 1-3 novels a week, would be ashamed.
Edit: Now that I think of it, I do have some books that are loaners and others I’ve loaned and never saw again. My copy of The Hobbit was my godfather’s when he was in university.
Compared to my kindle, I hate real books. No worries about lighting. Page always flat. Lighter. Never lose what page you’re on. Less space and hundreds of books can be kept right there. Still looks like real paper. Font and size to your own preference.
There’s really no downside at all for me. I never cared how a book “smelled”. That’s for sure.
I think e-ink readers are incredible. My eyes feel like they’re reading a normal book, but it’s got a backlight, doesn’t take up a bunch of physical space I don’t have, and it’s a lot easier to read using only one hand at a time (even turning pages).
- The <1% of books I love: physical
- The >99% of everything else: digital
Digital. I love physical books, but I never read them. Digital is so much easier for me to actually sit down and read, and I love building up my library.
This is the same for me. I love the tactile feeling of books, I love the smell, the weight, the aesthetic and the idea.
They take up so much space though and that can make them a hassle to access. I also like to read in bed which means I need something that can make it’s own light, and I like the versatility digital books have in font size and in the case. Especially as a comic reader where you have weekly and monthly issues or chunky volumes it adds up quickly.
Absolutely! The bed point is a big kicker, I don’t want to wake my partner up with a light, or with page turns, or sit in an awkward position. Digital is just easier.
Do you prefer digital or physical books?
Digital. I live in 76ft2 and can no longer store thousands of physical books like I did in a “sticks and bricks” house. But there are ~13,000 easily stored between the e-ink kindle and waiting in the wings in calibre.
Reading is a big part of my retirement plan.
Oh my god I love this. How did you manage to get down to 76 square feet?
I live in a 250 sf apartment and it’s one of the best decisions I’ve made.
I used to prefer physical, because I read on my phone and never really paid attention. Used my phone to read for a year and read a ton of books but don’t remember any of them. Couple years ago I bought a kindle and ever since I haven’t bought a single physical book, opting to buy them instead through amazon.
Don’t think I’ll ever go back to physical, honestly, it’s just too convenient. Digital is less bulky, not just in storage but in my hands, pages don’t wear down from turning, and I can fit my kindle in my front pockets and read anywhere, any time.
I dislike having to give money to amazon though.
Kobo! Kobo is owned by Rakuten and they integrate with public libraries too.
2nd for Kobo! It’s a good device, supports more standards, and doesn’t fund any of the Too Big Tech Giants
Ooo, these look cool. Won’t be able to access those libraries, but this seems like a good option, thanks!
Just in case you didn’t know, you don’t have to buy books through Amazon (actually that’s the worst option). You can buy the books in epub format from the publishers website or other stores usually (and if all else fails, pirate it in epub format). Epub is DRM free, which means you actually own the book, and, although I wouldn’t have recommended buying an Amazon Kindle, now you have it, according to another commenter, you can email the epub to yourself and read it on the kindle.
Oh yeah, I’ve pirated stuff before. WotC stuff though, no way I’m giving them money for handbooks.
I used to be always for physical books. Then in 2018 I ran out of space in my bookcase and shifted to reading on my phone. Now I am so used to it I can’t read physical books anymore… especially since a lot of books I read sometimes are doorstoppers and my phone is definitely smaller and lighter than any physical book I may read.
Physical because its better for reading. But limited space at my home mean I am most buying digital nowadays.
Physical. I read a lot and a real book won’t run out of battery.
I strongly dislike reading from a tablet but I’ve been meaning to buy a Kindle for some time. Unfortunately they are still ridiculously high priced in my country, so I haven’t bit the bullet yet.
I’ve heard a lot of other users recommend Kobo ereaders, haven’t used it myself but you might want to check that out.
digital because pirate
I almost always start digital, either ebook or audiobook then buy a physical copy later if I liked it. It’s just a lot less friction for starting something new, no needing to go out of my way to a library/bookstore or wait for something to be delivered. Sometimes I’ll just take a gamble on something physical if I’m looking for a new travel book or I’m killing time in a library/bookstore though.
Physical. You do not really own your digital book and you have to depend on a devise that can break/need charging to read.
Depends on the format, you can absolutely own ebooks.
Yes you kind of “own” your ebook, but… The company that sold it to you can remove it legally form their listings, taking away your ability to download your book.
That’s not what I’m referring to. If you have an epub or similar file, you own it. You can store it, and delete it at your own whim.
Yes, but computers are prone to failure, you are depending on a device to hold all your media. I’ve had backups and backups of backups, still losing things to failure. My books take up space, but they will be there unless my home burns down.
And if you store it in the cloud, and in thumb drives, they will be there even if your home burns down, and far more of em too.
With a cloud you are depending on someone else to hold your property.
Not necessarily, you can self-host. I also listed it as a backup, for actual storage on thumb drives, SD cards, etc. It’s really not difficult, files are far more secure and safe than a physical book, which itself degrades upon use.
It’s possible to remove DRM from books using software like calibre and thats not even getting into how easy it is to pirate due to the small filesize if you ever need to recover a lost book. Then you can back it up and copy onto other storage devices and the cloud which in some ways makes the digital copy more long lasting than a physical book.
You can lose your back up, but you can also lose your book. It doesn’t change my feelings on the subject. There are physical copies of books that are hundreds of years old and still readable, I have some from the 50s that are in great condition. Take care of them and they will last.
Pretty sure this is asking about entertainment literature like novels. I have no real opinion, as I very rarely read those.
Now, technical books like school textbooks and reference texts, physical. Absolutely no contest. I loathe clunkily scrolling around on two separate axes to negotiate pages where the content is nonlinear, broken up by interspersed photos, figures, and tables.
If you have an ereader with an eink screen… it’s a no-brainer. Digital books are soooo good.
- virtually no weight
- virtually no space
- waaaaay cheaper
- your local library has probably a way bigger and more accessible catalogue of ebooks than physical ones
- tap and hold a word and get an automatic definition/translation
- adjust text size or font
- dark mode, if you into that (in some models)
- Text-to-speech (in some models)
- highlight text and write notes without f-ing up pages
- literally translate entire phrases or look particular information from Wikipedia or similar with a simple gesture.
- backup all of those and do crazy stuff like an automatic daily email to yourself with cool notes you took months/years ago.
Physical books nowadays are like vynil music… it’s for the artwork and having a physical “certificate” of something you love. Like… if I discover a book I really enjoy, I’ll probably buy a physical version so I can, you know, have it there on the shelf, like you have family pics or something.
Just got a kobo libra 2 a couple of weeks ago and I’m loving it. You forgot to mention the dictionary native to most e-readers too!
I’ve been eying up this one. Have you used other ereaders before? Have you got anything to compare it to?
I hear that having a screen that isn’t flush with the touch surface really improves the word clarity. I’m not really enjoying my paperwhite 5 because it’s has a weird blurred effect on the screen because it’s flush
This was my first e-reader, but I played around with my mom’s Paperwhite 5 for a bit before deciding against it. The UI on the paperwhite is better but you don’t really interact with it much for it to be a big problem. I also patched mine using calibre to add some features that aren’t present on the stock UI. I’m not sure about the particulars with the display but text and images are fairly crisp. All in all, I’m pretty happy with it
Being able to carry my entire collection with me is incredible. Before I’d have to select a few to bring on vacation or when visiting relatives.
I dunno about the vinyl parallel. I’m a physical book reader myself—I’ve tried an ebook, I read a few books on there. But it didn’t hold me the way books know how to. Just right.
Not to mention, I’m trying everything I can to realistically separate myself from the “internet of things.” I use the internet, but I try to achieve as private of an experience as I can manage. I’m wary of cameras these days. I never used social media. I cover any camera pointed at me that I can…my point is, a book doesn’t know I’m reading it or how long I’ve read it. Buying used books, no one knows who I am, how long I’ve spent reading, WHAT I’m reading, etc.
I can’t say the same about these e-readers. I don’t need ANOTHER device I’m constantly worried is stealing every single metric it can possibly gather about me.
