do you guys read books old fashioned way (paper) or digitally (e-book)?

I generally do a lot of my reading on the computer screen and I quite frankly find the 'search' feature to be very convenient, especially when reading books of multi-layered levels of complexity where a handful of characters are thrown into the fray.

Still, there is unquestionably a marked difference between reading on a screen versus paper and being a computer science major, I'm currently writing a program to try and simulate the 'look and feel' of reading a physical book via rendering a e-book in a three-dimensional OpenGL environment.

Hey,u all people commment whether u get more engrossed in reading a paper-book or compact book with celluloid papers????
As far as I am concerned,I hate ebooks..But due to the cost-ineffectiveness I generally go for an E-BOOK!!!!
So what u people prefer???

I get more engrossed reading a paper-book because I can take it with me anywhere and don't get as distracted as I do when I have bright lights shining in my face. That said, I actually love e-books because of their easy accessibility (apologies for stating the obvious). The combination of Wikisource and Project Gutenberg have spoiled me and I find many forays into libraries and book stores saddening when I am looking for a very specific book. Online I have access to not just to Edgar Allen Poe and William Shakespeare; I can also find Edgar Rice Burroughs and H. Rider Haggard, among scores of others. The shear power is ecstacy, if not a bit daunting. That said, stumbling through the bookshelves at random provides a lot of enjoyment when I am not looking for anything in particular. Also, it helps the e-book movement's case with me that i like older books. Those who like more modern books would obviously like physical books more on account of copyright laws (unless they have the drool-inspiring Kindle).

I prefer paper books because I can take them with me everywhere. I spend so much time on the computer already with school (and play), that I don't need another excuse (books) to do so...

I go to my library - books are essentially free. I only buy books I want to own, and reread, not books I want to read.

If I could afford a Kindle (Amazon's reader) I'd read digitally in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, I'm an impoverished writer. I can't read for very long from a computer display. I use an iMac and the resolution/clarity is pretty good. Maybe the aspect ratio is wrong for serious reading.

I am fine with paper, but the Kindle is a pretty amazing approach.

Oh well, maybe they'll drop the price someday.

I've tried the digital way, prefer the old way. I find that I tire easir, perhaps it looking at a bright screen. also with books you can them everywhere and put them with a marker no problem. Computers as great as they are just do not have the same flexibility as a book when it comes to reading literature.

With my p*ss poor eyesight, it is very difficult to read online. Therefore, I hold the book in front of my face and have a much easier time of reading it that way.

Besides, having a book in such proximity helps to hide my ugly face from other passengers when I'm commuting to work!

:)

PAPER PURIST ALERT!!!

I solemnly swear that I will never ever read a full-length work ONLINE. That's just wrong.

Paper, paper, paper. If paper is the medium the author intended, then it is how it must be read. The position of the words on paper is important to some works. Transferring a concrete poem from paper to palm is taking the piss out of the whole thing. Someday an author will come along and explore the potential of words on screen in relation to paper and then digital will have a voice. Until then: the medium is the message and the medium is paper, paper, paper.

I have read a couple books online.. but it hurts my eyes, they go all fuzzy and start watering after an hour or so..

and books are just so great, I love the feel, I love the act of turning pages.. paper is the only way to read..

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Originally Posted by hellsapoppin

With my p*ss poor eyesight, it is very difficult to read online. Therefore, I hold the book in front of my face and have a much easier time of reading it that way.


:)

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I have the same problem with my eyes so books are better for me as well. I have to admitt I like the feel of a book which you miss if you read online or with an ereader

i occasionally read books on my pc, it's alot easier on microsoft reader than just on notepad.

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Originally Posted by Koa

I had read 'dignity'... :eek:

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no diggity

I have a friend with a Kindle and it is quite attractive. I'd need to spend at least a few nights with it to see how tolerable it is. There are a lot of pluses, but I too love the physicality of books, their smell, feel, heft, good paper, good typography, and good insulation in my old house!

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Originally Posted by Kevets

I have a friend with a Kindle and it is quite attractive. I'd need to spend at least a few nights with it to see how tolerable it is. There are a lot of pluses, but I too love the physicality of books, their smell, feel, heft, good paper, good typography, and good insulation in my old house!

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So I am the only one who reads ebooks on a digital reader? Crucify me but I still buy paper books, collect them, love them and teach my children to collect and love them. No, I don't have a Kindle or 'Kindie' (as fan boys call it) , I use an Iliad Reader:

http://www.iliadreader.co.uk/product...FRyS1QodkTfbXg

I am very sorry, but since it is already hard enough to discipline oneself to sit down and read, and to make the effort not to get distracted, how could one possible concentrate properly sitting in front of the computer? It just doesn't make sense.

Also, reading is already hard enough on the eyes, why add glare and radiation to the mix of reading?

Besides, reading is one of the few respites I get from the computer, and going back to the computer to read would ultimately defeat part of the purpose of reading.

I prefer to read the old fashioned way. I love the smell of books, be they old or new. I love the yellowed pages of a book, something which I can't see with an e-book. Plus, my eyes won't be strained that much when reading books on paper.

Paper! I can't read books on the Internet, after a while I lose my concentration...

I have read books online but I love going to a bookstore and buying a book. It is also kind of hard for me to curl up in my favorite chair with my laptop.

It's not surprising that the majority prefer paper, because that is what we have grown up with and paper books are wonderfully tactile but a couple of days ago I saw, for the first time, someone quite young reading an E-book on the underground. Future generations won't want to be bothered with paper books when they can slip an E-book into their pockets so easily. At the current rate of technological development, it is likely that in a few years it may be possble for the E-book format to hold hundreds or even thousands of books. That one individual I saw with an E-book is the thin end of a very large wedge.

E-books piss me off. Not only do they hurt my eyes, the slightest scroll of the mouse could screw up the pages.