e-book vrs. real stuff

[inbetween]

hey there, I don't know if there has already bin such a thread but I've just come across it. what do you think is better, an e-book or a real book printed on paper? and do you think that the real stuff is endangered?
I, personally, would miss the real stuff. to me a book is more than the story, that comes to life in your head. of course the story is the main part of the book but I need more than that. I want a nice cover and I want the first site (the very first site) where there is nothing printed on and sometimes it is red or blue or black or got some other colour. I like it because it is like a curtain in a theatre. when you turn the page the curtain rises and the play begins. and then the smell of paper and inc..., no I really would miss the real stuff and I deem it irreplaceable. what do you think? will the real stuff survive?

[ehs13]

I love the real stuff! If I read a whole book on a computer, I probabley wouldn't be able to see afterwards. Also I'm with you on the whole smell of the paper and texture of it and everything. You can't really snuggle up with a good book if it's on a computer no matter how little the computer is. I think that books won't go extinct. I think so many people in this world, no matter how techie we get, will always enjoy a good book on paper.

[Dinkleberry2010]

I love the feel of actual books, but I am in a situation where I have no access to a library or a bookstore, so most of my reading is via the internet. If it wasn't for e-books, I would not be able to read much.

[dfloyd]

The London-based Folio Society is publishing books which go for over $1,000 and they sell out rapidly. The Easton Press who publishes leather-bound classics among others, sells as much as they can produce. The used book market as exemplified by Biblio.com, alibris.com, and ABE.com are going strong. I myself am a collector of classics published from 1929 until the present by the American Limited Editions club.

There is a place for e-books: students who can't afford books, travelers who want to travel light with a Kindel. But the collecting of books has gone on from when Livy wrote on a scroll, and people will continue to buy and collect books. Last month, a first edition of Scott Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night sold for $11,200. There is no worry about technolgy making books obsolete.

[mel_allen]

Definately real books!! i hate reading stuff on a computer screen for a long period of time, especially big chunks of text, it just hurts my eyes.
But realistically its likely e-books are going to become very popular just because of their practical aspect - you can carry more 'books' around on your computer so they take up less space, and you have easier access to them etc. Still, doubt they'll ever replace the real thing.

[Night_Lamp]

I have a large home library, and obviously prefer the physical book. Although I
really have no interest in Kindle or such, I love gutenberg because it has lots of very hard to find out of print rarities. But if I find something I want I usually
print it out and put it in a duo-tang folder.

[MarkC]

Hi,

I have read E-books too but prefer the real ones to them because it hurts your eyes if you look at the screen for a long time. And i love to hold what i read.

MarkC

[Sinister]

I have had this discussion on other forums as well, but I should definitely explain my stance on this forum above any other.

Digital devices are fragile. Something as simple and common as a magnet may totally destroy one. Books are hard print on soft paper and come with a guarantee each time you turn a page. There is also something to be said about the feel of paper and the smell of paper pulp and ink. I am a bibliophile at heart, anyway.

I would like to try an e-book. But they're too expensive to replace technology that is available, cheap and sturdy.

-Sin

[Eryk]

E-readers are as real as paper books. Plastic isn't less real than paper, it's just different.

A text, any text, is nothing but a series of symbols. This:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51HHNZHE02L.jpg

is not a REAL whale.

[lyni]

although I too like the feel of a real book I think the ebook also has its uses. like the audio book which is easier to carry the ebook will be used to carry more books around more comfortably.
it would also be nice to think that maybe it would slow down the rate of forest destruction for the making of paper - but that may be just a pipe dream.

[Bastable]

I once read the sorrows of young werther on my computer. It wasn't too bad because it's a relatively short book, but i wouldn't want to read anything longer as my eyes were starting to hurt to the end from staring at the screen so long.

also i like the smell of the pages.

[Paulclem]

E-books are happening. You may not be an e-reader, but the young surfers who are spending quite a time on the net are becoming so. Eventually the arguments about the feel of books etc will become eccentric. Nothing wrong with being eccentric of course. If things carry on as they are, then e-reading will become cheaper, more accessible and the norm.

[Mathor]

I do prefer an actual book, but I feel like e-books are becoming more and more valid. On a Kindle, you can actually see the text BETTER than you can a real live book. A big bulky book can sometimes make it hard to find a comfortable spot to read. With a small little e-book reading device, you do not have this problem either. I still vote for real books, but I believe that e-books are the future, and it is possible in about 20 years that I will change my ways and get a reader.

[Paulclem]

I have been reading just today about Web2, which is the opportunities that are already out there for readers and Teachers of reading/ literacy. It was making the point - one of many - that whereas reading a book is passive in the sense that you take what the author gives you, reading on the web gives the reader the opportunity to select their own reading pathway. There is more interaction, choice, reading autonomy and opportunity. They can drill down for detail, diversify for interest or decide on one or many particular aspects.

Encouragingly, it did say that the heavier internet ussr was more likely to be a reader of books for pleasure. That'll be you lot then.

In terms of teaching, we have to cast the net wider to capitalise on what is a text based web.

[Jazz_]

e-books are very convenient for the 'rarer' books - I have read several of these online.

However, given the choice I would always choose the physical version - something about holding the book and turning the pages with your hands... it's more intimate, less distant (sounds odd, but can't quite put the feeling into words).

[WJMuldowney]

I may eventually get a Kindle or some electronic reader, but I think they are too limited and expensive today.

It's hard to beat reading a book in an overstuffed chair next to a roaring fire. Holding the book, turning the page, placing it back onto a bookshelf, these are all things that make reading "real" books enjoyable.

[BloomingRose]

A book is a book, and nothing is comparable to that 'real stuff' as you call it. I never read online, unless it is a very antique book you're not likely to find anywhere else. You can carry your book wherever you go, write on its pages if you like (though it's not useful to me, and I wouldn't do it), and you have it on your shelf in case someday you need to look for a specific quote or paragraph.
I don't think the 'real stuff' is endangered because of Copyright issues, but it may be true that young people (and not so young!) are getting used to reading books online. I don't care haha. I will always choose the book as the best option :D

[Poetess]

Dear, I am sure "real stuff" will survive as long as there are people like us who care about them. I, as a paper-obsessed person since childhood, prefer paper books of course; however, sometimes we can`t find a book at a very instant moment so we have to download the electronic version of it. This happened last semester when I had to write a research AND a review about a movie which I chose to be Sleepy Hollow by Tim Burton.

I couldn`t find the novel on which the movie was based, so I had to download it, read it and quote it in my research. I personally couldn`t give up on that because we can`t base our researches on the internet only. Books, magazines, newsletters, TV programs or other movies should be taken too.

That`s why IMO e-books aren`t actually a TOTAL threat or bad stuff. Well, they helped me to submit a whole research and review in a few hours. :-)

[Paulclem]

A book is a book, and nothing is comparable to that 'real stuff' as you call it. I never read online, unless it is a very antique book you're not likely to find anywhere else. You can carry your book wherever you go, write on its pages if you like (though it's not useful to me, and I wouldn't do it), and you have it on your shelf in case someday you need to look for a specific quote or paragraph.
I don't think the 'real stuff' is endangered because of Copyright issues, but it may be true that young people (and not so young!) are getting used to reading books online. I don't care haha. I will always choose the book as the best option :D

I think you'll be able to do all those things with an e-reader, if not now, then in the future. I'd like an e=reader, and they will become affordable at some point, and better at what they do.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Many of the books I own are very old having been inherited through great grandparents, Grandparents and parents alike. These were the books I grew up with and while I was still young, I recall my habitual sniffing of the books and examining the texture of the old yellowing paper. (OK, I must confess; I still sniff the pages of the “old ones” in fact I try to coerce my wife and son to sniff the pages, but they don’t understand)
Many of the books were part of my maternal grandfather’s library. Inside one can still see where he jotted notes in the margins or brackets singling out a passage that held special meaning to him.
I seriously doubt that “E-books” will be able to replicate the smell, texture and sound of turning pages. Perhaps the engineer’s could incorporate a “scratch and sniff” feature to the device, but most likely we will only get a waft of PCB’s, off gassing of plastics, heated transistors and circuit boards. Somehow that just doesn’t hold much of a nostalgic appeal to me.

And what becomes of the empty bookshelves? - no thanks, I'll stick to the real McCoy!