printed books or e-books?

Do you prefer to read a book online or printed and why?

 

For me, it's the printed word every time.

Those people I know who have a 'Kindle' are always singing its praises and saying I should get one, but .....

Books on a shelf can be picked up by any member of the family or visiting friends. I often buy books in second-hand bookshops or charity shops. If there's a book I'm going to keep or may wish to re-read, I tend to buy it in hardback. The rest of the time I'll buy a paperback. When I've finished with it, I can give it to my daughters, friends or work colleagues - when they've finished with it, it can go to a charity shop, on the charity shelf at work, donated to the hospital, residential home or the school or church jumble sale - even the library are often grateful for donations. Additionally, it's OK to fall asleep with a book in your hand, they survive being in a bed all night far better than an electronic device would!

You can't do any of these things with 'electronic' books - apart from which, there's something inherently pleasant about the feel and smell of a book, the crackle of pages as you turn them. Oh! and you can't stick a 'post-it' note on an electronic book

 

I belong to my local library as it was becoming to expensive to buy books. I like to read historical novels and the classics, but unfortunately the library isn't big enough to keep me in reading matter.
I was recently loaned a Kindle to try out and I was quite impressed, the only problem for me was the lack of a backlight. I tend to read a lot in bed and with just a lamp on, a backlight would be a bonus.
I think I'll be switching to a Kindle in the near future so I can get the supply I need on-line.
Any factual books I buy to keep for reference after reading.

 

I'm the proud owner of one of these new fangled "Kindle's" and I have to say I love it! and I'm slowly reading my way through some of the classics (which are free as there out of copyright) and I keep discovering new authors for less then 70p a book and I haven't bought a book that cost me more then £3.00 and that was only because it was a series and I was desperate to find out what happened xD I refuse to pay anywhere near the cost of a print edition and some publishers really take the mick and charge more then print editions!

overall I'm thoroughly impressed however I still hunt around charity shops for bargains

 

We have hundreds and hundreds of dead-tree books on shelves that have been read once. We have one or two that have been re-read, or loaned to friends.

We have copies of thick paperbacks (like Shogun) that were so heavy to hold to read "by the sea" that they were ripped in half (although that does allow multi-tasking reading by a couple once one has read half )

I need glasses to read now, so having large print at the touch of a button is a bonus.

I really should go out and buy a Kindle ... :thumb:

 

Good thread.. thanks to miraflores for starting it.
I have a library of trees, mostly for referance, but for general readings I have a Bebook packed with 100s of books which I am slowly getting through, As for classics there a tens of thousands available for download and if you look carefully there is one site which offers free downloads from modern authers and request that you upload any work to have to promote it.
There are some rather good stories out there.
Now, saying I have a Bebook which cost me over £200 when they first came out my OH has a KIndle £111.. I am so impressed with the Kindle that just yesterday I ordered one for myself.
Regarding backlight?
The e ink technology does not support backlighting as such, it just needs daylight or artificial, in fact more the better, in full sun the contrast is quite amazing and very readable.
Amazon do sell a cover with a little pull out light attached, but there seems to be some problems with the connection of this light to the unit. It causes freeze up and can be quite a concern if you see it happen.
I was sat for quite a while in the doctors the other day and was reading and the guy sat next to me kept taking a look but did not have the nerve to ask what I was doing.
Another thing... Our York city library are offering a download e book service but unfortunaely the file type is not compatable with the Kindle! seems a tad silly when you consider how popular the Kindle is.
I had better stop now before I get boring.
Long live E books.

 

Just ref:

This is the Kindle


And this the Bebook

 

I am not quiet sure yet whether I want a Kindle yet as at the moment I struggle to find time to read any of the hundreds of books we have at the moment and when do have some time have been sorting through some very old books Mr Kandy and myself had as children and were dog eared and torn so have shredded them and they have gone into the compost bags so have gone to some use on the allotment plots :D

If I do have one in the future then I will wait a little while until they put some added extras onto the Kindle as like the Ipads and Iphones they bring out the next generation within a few months to tempt us all in to spending even more money :yess:

 

I love both, for different kinds of things.

For 'browsing' type books - like gardening or cookery books, has to be printeed every time, you just can't browse on an ereader (mine's a sony, not a kindle). I also prefer paper for difficult books, or books I might want to refer to here and there - like books for studying (I'm doing a masters in clinical research and those books are a bit 'dry' to read on the ereader).

But for portability, can't beat the ereader. Mine is in my bag all the time, so if I get stuck waiting for something, I can read for 10 minutes. Absolutely love that.

Hate having to buy books at full price though. I'm used to picking up cheap paperbacks from charity shops, or I use the library a lot. But our library has just started doing ebooks, and I LOVE that. Not a massive choice yet, at least not in what I want to read, but better than nothing - and free. I love free.

 

Whichever we prefer electronic books are the future and perhaps it is a good thing, will save on trees!!!

Val

 

I was given a Sony reader for a present - I'm afraid it was a miserable experience. It's such a souless way of reading.

There are packed bookshelves in every room of my house - I've read 99% of them and each one has a memory for me. Books furnish a room - electronic books do not.

I take real pleasure wandering through bookshops - even Waterstones. I find it genuinely distressing to think that soon it may be a thing of the past. It is not the same browsing the pages of Amazon or the like.

My reader is now at the back of a drawer and there it will stay.

 

This is true, but trees take a long time to grow and many animals need them now!!!! We need them now for the oxygen they provide, they hack down huge trees, plant a little sapling in it's place and assume that is OK!!

Val