Sunday, November 20, 2011

E-Reader v. Actual Book: Which Do YOU Prefer?

As my e-reader (a first generating Kindle) slowly begins to die, I began to think about what is fast becoming a philosophical debate: which is better, an e-reader or the real thing?

On behalf of:

Perhaps not THAT particular e-reader, but e-readers in general. I like the idea of an e-reader in general.  It cuts down on the amount of space that I have dedicated to books (which, for someone like me, can be quite a massive amount of space) - and this was the reason that Izzy got it for me in the first place.  He was getting upset about the amount of space that was being eaten up by my book habits. It also makes carrying a TON of reading material on vacation with me that much easier and being able to update it when I'm done with a book and on vacation is super convenient. I so wish that e-readers had been around when I travelled to Europe because that would have made the long flights and travel time all that much more bearable. I have yet to try to download a book from the library but I intend to try to do so in the near future.

However, there is a lot to be said for: 

There is something to be said about how holding a book in your hands feels - you can turn the pages as you read, you can see how far you've come and how far you have to go (which for certain books, is much of the battle in getting through) and there is a certain satisfaction to be had in finishing a book, closing it and putting it on the bookshelf. However, you are limited in how many books you can take with you to a certain place - they are notoriously heavy and therefore hard to carry around and expensive to ship. 


2 comments:

  1. I have an iPad, and it is really nice to be able to instantly download a book I want instead of having to go to the book store and hope they have it (I'm not a library person - I have a book buying addiction). However, I do love to go to Barnes & Noble and just browse my little heart away, and yes, buy books. I love actual books - the feel of them, the smell of the pages, the weight of it in my hands. So for me, there's a place for both, and I don't think one will ever replace the other for me.

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  2. I still prefer the printed book, but apparently I'm in the minority. My Kindle book sales are dramatically bigger than the sales on my printed book.
    Ann

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