Guardian Article: How eBooks Lost their Shine

I guess I'm old school regarding books. Although printed books are generally more expensive, I MUCH prefer to have the book in my hands while reading. My 84 year old Mom was saying the same thing the other day. My teenage kids are more likely to read a digital book.

I didn't think I would, but I love my ebooks. I have a Nook with a basic screen (no websurfing/internet is only for accessing the bookstore); easy on the eyes, no glare, I can adjust the print size so it's comfortable, I've got hundreds accessible to me regardless of where I am, and my apartment isn't overflowing with paperbacks that take up valuable space. All 3 of my kids (teen to adult) prefer printed books. The older two would love hardcovers, but they're generally out of budget, so all 3 stick to paperbacks.

I purchase and read (most) fiction on my Nook, but much prefer to read non-fiction, especially books I'm reading for research, in paper form. Sometimes I'll buy non-fiction on my Nook if it's on sale for 1.99 or something, and if it turns out to be a good research source, I'll buy it in paper. I retain what I read on paper much, much better than what I read electronically; I'm pretty strongly visual, so I expect things like where in a book I read something (left hand page a third of the way down, about half-way through) reinforces my remembering things.

A few favorite authors (Connie Willis is one) I always buy in both paper and ebook. Just because.

I almost exclusively read ebooks now, mostly because my eyes have always been awful and it's such a pleasure to be able to change the font size. I'll buy physical copies of books I really love more as an archival/collection thing - and for that purpose, I absolutely buy hardcover if it's available.

The Kid, though, loves physical books. She'll read an ebook in a pinch (our local B&N didn't have a particular volume of a manga series she was devouring, so we bought the ebook so she wouldn't have to wait to get it in the mail), but her preference is strongly for pages she can turn.

Long before I read Erasmus's quote, I too prioritized books over food—except for my dog's food, a jar of peanut butter, and a loaf of bread each week. Because I was poor and single, I bought paperbacks exclusively. Then, because I could, I began to buy hardcovers exclusively and I have a fair sized library these days.

I was resistant to ebooks at first. Then my spouse gave me a Kindle Paperwhite. There's really no going back for me now. The Kindle is easier on my aging eyes and my painful wrists. I can highlight passages (I can't find erasable highlighters anymore) and bookmark pages with no damage to the book; of course, now I have colored page markers for my hardcover books, which pleases me. The Kindle is easier to carry when I'm out and about and when I'm spending time in waiting rooms. All in all, I'd say I'm a convert to ebooks.

i love the tactile sensation of turning a page in a printed book. I resisted e-books for a long while. Several years ago, when we had to move halfway across the country, I had to part with the majority of my book collection. I started reading e-books then, which is a good thing because we have to move again in a couple of months.

I still love paper, but e-books are far more practical.

E-books, paperback, or hardcover?

Yes.

I use my color Nook tablet for Hoopla and Overdrive check-outs from the library, mostly. My Kindle Paperwhite is my purse "book" - I read when I'm waiting for people in the car, or on break at work. In physical books, I lean toward cheaper paperbacks (and Half Price Books), but also have plenty of Amazon/B&N new stuff - usually with a higher bar to purchase than eBooks, owing to the greater cost. (But, then, I count my paychecks in finger splits and cracked nails... I don't spend large chunks of money lightly.)

I’ve completely moved to ebooks. They’re just easier.

Also, I move a lot, and live in a foreign country, so I’m not trying to do anything that increases my load. I currently have dozens of books on my Kindle, and just imagining trying to move that many titles every six months to a year sounds awful.

I buy both printed books and e-books. The novels I buy are either printed or electronic. E-books are especially good for travelling; no longer do I have to haul around doorstops to keep myself amused on flights. But the reference and non-fiction books I buy are printed, because I find them easier to use. Also many have lots of images and they look dreadful on e-book readers.

Unfortunately, I live in a warm, high humidity climate, and it's difficult to keep printed books in good nick. I really need a purpose-built library. (Cue chorus of 'don't we all!')

I buy both, and find it strange when articles like this seem to try and generate a divide (and base their views on data that doesn't even include all books sold ).

The only ebooks I've ever read have been eARCs from publishers and some reference material I was given for free - I've never bought one, and don't own a reader.

I generally buy paperbacks as I find them easier to hold than weighty hardbacks, although if there's a book I *really* want that's only out in hardback then I'll buy it in that format.

I tend to read paper books at home, and ebooks while at work and travelling (both long trips and short trips eg the doctor's waiting room). I love both, there's plenty of room for them to co-exist!

I guess I'm just old-school; my wife and I love having real books--lots and lots of hardbacks and paperbacks. Some might think our house looks like an OCD-stricken bibliophile hoarder's stash. Thinking this might be a problem, I got her a tablet (32GB) so she could download new books--no problem--she loved it, filling it up in a few months. We have an off-site storage facility holding boxes of books we never got around to unpacking since our last household move (no room). We readily admit that discarding a book we've enjoyed (often more than once) is something we just wouldn't do--loan one? Sure, share the joy and wonder. So, we have e-books, paperbacks, and hardbacks; bookcases stuffed to overflowing give me a warm feeling. My wife, comfortably old-school as well, is equally content; ye gods, how I love her! I am a lucky man.

ironmikezero said:

I guess I'm just old-school; my wife and I love having real books--lots and lots of hardbacks and paperbacks.

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Without wading into a snake pit, an ebook is a real book. It's just a different medium than hard copy.

Another reason I like ebooks is that I can borrow them from the library in a snap. If I hear about one that sounds interesting, I might have to be on a wait list, but it doesn't take long before it's available for me to download.

I adore paperbacks, finding them easiest to read and store (and loving the cover art on vintage ones). Buying hardcovers is a recent thing for me, often something I do to support fellow authors. My inner miser still says I should be waiting for the paperback. (Irony: my own book is not yet out in PB.)

I go through spurts of buying ebooks for my tablet. I like the instant gratification, and I like that they don’t take up space, but they’re usually books I’m buying for one-time pleasure reading or market research of comp titles. I don’t reread them, and sometimes I don’t get through them the first time. If an ebook isn’t super compelling, it’s a lot easier to just forget about than a physical book.

April Days said:

Another reason I like ebooks is that I can borrow them from the library in a snap. If I hear about one that sounds interesting, I might have to be on a wait list, but it doesn't take long before it's available for me to download.

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It was my mom who made me see the real dangers of this. She had a very early Kindle, and one night around 2:00 am she finished a series book...and realized she could immediately grab the next one without having to wait for anything to open the next morning.

I think she's still catching up on her sleep.

I read almost exclusively on an ereader now. The only books on paper I get now are graphic-heavy books like graphic novels and history books with lots of maps and photos.

Mostly I like ebooks because I don't have to truck them around and they are cheaper. I do find it harder to go back to an earlier place to re-read something I didn't get the first time. With paper books it was a lot easier to flip back and forth until I found what I was looking for.

I think I love books in all forms, and it's probably a good thing that my town does not have a chapters!

I love my e-reader for browsing books and downloading authors who aren't for sale in walmart and aren't in the library, the shear volume of selection on ereader is awesome. But...I prefer a physical book in my hand so I still go to the library and take out books. I was just there today and I love browsing the aisles with no author in mind and just picking a book off the shelf because it caught my eye.

I like paperbacks and in general never buy hardcover. In general I won't pay more than 3.99 for an e-book, if an e-book is over the $7 mark then I want it physically in my hands not on an ereader. For starters I don't trust technology, I don't want to spend gobs of money on books in e form to have something glitch and lose them all, it's a fear of mine. Plus I like seeing a stack of books on my end table

I do have books that are severely falling apart, one of my fave books is held together with an elastic band lol. And when my daughter was young and read all of my teen books, Blume etc, she wrote "Kyra's Library" in all of them, which I thought was hilarious, under my name which was written when I was young is her name from when she was young....you can't do that with an e-book. Maybe one day I'll have a granddaughter who will borrow my "Iggy's House" and she'll pencil her name in it too!

I very recently began using an e-reader - basically when I decided that I would publish my novel online. I had to see how it worked, if I was happy with this kind of reading.
I enjoy being able to change the font. I find it harder to read a non-fiction book on the e-reader than a novel. When I read non-fiction, I often like to go back and check an idea, a sentence. I find it harder to do with the e-reader than with a book.
In France, you don't have hardback editions. Only trade paperbacks and pocket books. I read whatever is available at the time I want to read a book.

An e-reader is great when you travel, and don't want to carry many books in your suitcase. It's also good when you commute.

But I live surrounded by books, and so the e-reader is just for me another, practical "format". Plus, not all books are available as e-books. I could not, not have books around me.

The reason e-book sells have declined and physical books are up might have to do with the fact that services like CreateSpace, KDP and Ingram now offers the opportunity to create and publish your printed book for free too. So even if the author has an e-book, he/she now has the ability to have a printed version too, and I'm sure if you have the opportunity you'll go for both.

MartinVestgard said:

The reason e-book sells have declined and physical books are up might have to do with the fact that services like CreateSpace, KDP and Ingram now offers the opportunity to create and publish your printed book for free too. So even if the author has an e-book, he/she now has the ability to have a printed version too, and I'm sure if you have the opportunity you'll go for both.

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Perhaps you missed this, which is from the article linked to in the original post and quoted in that original post, too:

The figures from the Publishing Association should be treated with some caution. They exclude self-published books, a sizable market for ebooks.

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