e-book or paper book?

[Austin Butler]

As part of a generation who has grown up with the internet, personal computers, MP3 players, smart phones, digital readers, etc. I have refrained from buying an e-reader like the Kindle or Nook. My sister has a Nook and loves it for all the same (very legitimate) reasons people have posted here. But personally, I've never enjoyed them. There is something about the printed word that to me an e-book can never capture. The feel of the page, the sound it makes when you turn it, the smell, flipping through the dictionary to find a single definition, the dog-earing and underlining and annotating are all things I love. I like lugging books through the airport, having a pile next to my bed, tripping over them in the night. I have always been able to physically connect with a book and remember where and why I bought it or who bought it for me, when I read it and what I felt. You'll never have a loved one hand you an e-book with an inscription in it (Unless they add that feature, which would be odd.) Then there's the kinship that comes with exchanging books. It makes me feel like I am participating in something that mankind has been doing since the layman could hold a book in their hands and read it. I could go on. Perhaps these are sentimental or archaic reasons for my preference, just like writing snail mail, but they're the reasons I love the printed and written word. When an e-book can recreate the sensation of the tension in your fingers or emit the sound a cover makes when you pull it back for the first time, then I will consider buying one. A page is a depth that poses itself as a surface, it is water.

Regardless of my dislike of e-readers I completely understand WHY people buy them. They have their place and practical purposes. Hopefully they realize their full potential to disseminate knowledge and stories.

[anishastrologer]

paper books definitely. there is nothing as delightful as sitting in a corner and reading a book.

[mal4mac]

That sounds pretty unbelievable to me. Does this mean that I can just select my books now and they will already be on the device when it arrives?

It seems more likely to me that the Kindle will detect your WiFi router and then the download will start automatically - so it might look as if they're already on there.

I'm so backward that I only just got a WiFi router - and it didn't work with the first gadget I tried (a Sony Media Player). I ended up having to hardwire it to the router via ethernet. If you have problems, do not kick the router or the Kindle .

As mentioned I'm also interested in using the dictionary and highlight features. Good practice when reading is underlining unfamilar words or phrases and look them up and so on, but to be honest I can't recall doing that for months and months. The dictionary feature will make it easier to do that.

Is the dictionary feature quick to use? I have visions of spend minutes scrolling left and right with the buttons. I'd like to just tap the word and the definition springs up - but Kindle doesn't have a touch screen.

[Emil Miller]

Neely sat eating a cheese sandwich and recalled the days of Hugh Fernley Whittingstall and real bread and cheese as opposed to the cardboard and plastic he was now munching.
How things had changed from those halcyon days when people knew how to enjoy the good things in life. Those were the days of real books with genuine covers and pages, not the metal thing that he now held as he tried to read Oscar Wilde from its illuminated screen. Then there had been bookshops with real books stacked neatly on shelves, waiting for the avid reader’s outstretched hand, but they had gone and all that remained were the rows of Kindles to remind everyone that Big Kindle ruled.
He glanced out of the window at the large poster adorning the wall opposite; it read 'SHAKESPEARE IS RUBBISH! READ HARRY POTTER'. True, Big Kindle still allowed a few of the old classics to remain as examples of the decadent past but now they had mostly been replaced with the ‘new literature'.
Neely put down his kindle and went out into the street, where large hoardings showing pictures of Big Kindle lined the pavement. He made his way through a narrow alleyway to a little shop, and rang the bell that stood on the counter of the deserted room.
A little old man came from a room at the back and greeted him enthusiastically, “How are you Neely? I’ve been waiting for you as I have some interesting volumes that arrived recently.”
He led Neely into the back room and there, piled on chairs and a large table were stacks of books. Neely looked nervously over his shoulder, for to be in the presence of books was forbidden. "How much do you want for this one?” He said as he tenderly handled a copy of Icelandic sagas.
The old man gave a sardonic grin and said, “ Nothing, because you won’t be reading it where you’re going,” and with that, he opened the door to the kitchen and out stepped A.Mazon, the right hand man to Big Kindle.
“You’re going into room 101 for attempting to buy the old literature,” said A.Mazon, taking Neely by the arm and leadings him outside to a waiting car.
When they arrived at the Ministry for Digitalisation, Neely was taken to room 101 where he was strapped into a chair and subjected to his worst nightmare by being forced to listen to the Poet Laureate reading the whole of Harry Potter.
Four days later, he was released and went home to order the latest tome by JK Rowling for his Kindle. Big Kindle had won.
He loved Harry Potter.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Neely sat eating a cheese sandwich and recalled the days of Hugh Fernley Whittingstall and real bread and cheese as opposed to the cardboard and plastic he was now munching.
How things had changed from those halcyon days when people knew how to enjoy the good things in life. Those were the days of real books with genuine covers and pages, not the metal thing that he now held as he tried to read Oscar Wilde from its illuminated screen. Then there had been bookshops with real books stacked neatly on shelves, waiting for the avid reader’s outstretched hand, but they had gone and all that remained were the rows of Kindles to remind everyone that Big Kindle ruled.
He glanced out of the window at the large poster adorning the wall opposite; it read 'SHAKESPEARE IS RUBBISH! READ HARRY POTTER'. True, Big Kindle still allowed a few of the old classics to remain as examples of the decadent past but now they had mostly been replaced with the ‘new literature'.
Neely put down his kindle and went out into the street, where large hoardings showing pictures of Big Kindle lined the pavement. He made his way through a narrow alleyway to a little shop, and rang the bell that stood on the counter of the deserted room.
A little old man came from a room at the back and greeted him enthusiastically, “How are you Neely? I’ve been waiting for you as I have some interesting volumes that arrived recently.”
He led Neely into the back room and there, piled on chairs and a large table were stacks of books. Neely looked nervously over his shoulder, for to be in the presence of books was forbidden. "How much do you want for this one?” He said as he tenderly handled a copy of Icelandic sagas.
The old man gave a sardonic grin and said, “ Nothing, because you won’t be reading it where you’re going,” and with that, he opened the door to the kitchen and out stepped A.Mazon, the right hand man to Big Kindle.
“You’re going into room 101 for attempting to buy the old literature,” said A.Mazon, taking Neely by the arm and leadings him outside to a waiting car.
When they arrived at the Ministry for Digitalisation, Neely was taken to room 101 where he was strapped into a chair and subjected to his worst nightmare by being forced to listen to the Poet Laureate reading the whole of Harry Potter.
Four days later, he was released and went home to order the latest tome by JK Rowling for his Kindle. Big Kindle had won.
He loved Harry Potter.

Love the dystopian take on the Kindle, ha, ha. I thought it was going to end as I was electrocuted in the bath but never mind. Reading Harry Potter instead of dying in pain is a better end.

I know, I know but there is really little option. I've got about another 40 years of reading so unless I come into a large amount of cash and can afford a bigger house and my own library, or I no longer feel the need to want to be able to consult a text again at my own ease, I must get the ereader. Besides there are many benefits as already expressed.

As it happens I'm going to see old Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall tonight talk about vegetables. No seriously I am, I think he is plugging his new book, I'll have to forgo the author signature though, obviously...

I'm sure that there was a gasp of nostalgia when monks changed to paper from cow skin, or when the candle makers lost out to gas and electricity. There is little the individual can do in the way of social evolution, whether we like it or not, it's just like spitting in the wind you can't do anything about it.

Is the dictionary feature quick to use? I have visions of spend minutes scrolling left and right with the buttons. I'd like to just tap the word and the definition springs up - but Kindle doesn't have a touch screen.

I don't know. I think you just move the cursor over the word and job done.

Oh and thinking, I hate the smell of old books as I'm allergic to dust so they make my eyes and my nose stream like mad...

[Emil Miller]

[QUOTE=Neely;1080396 Reading Harry Potter instead of dying in pain is a better end.[/QUOTE]

Hmmmm....

[LitNetIsGreat]

Well guess what just dropped through the post about half an hour ago? Woo hoo!!!

First impressions are very promising. Very smart looking device, easy to navigate (even for me) and I've already got used to the features that I'm interested in using such as the dictionary and highlight/notes/bookmark functions. Very promising.

(To use the dictionary function during reading you just simply move the cursor behind the selected word and up hovers the definition, with the option to press to go into a full ramble. Very quick and easy to use.)

I have created my first folder into which I have put my free copies of Dorian Gray and some collected short stories of Maupassant and Chekhov. I'm quite a happy chap.

Apparently there is a three hour charge and then it should be OK for about a month, but it still lets your read/play with it while it is plugged in via the USB cable. Definitely the future of reading. Sorry Emil.

Edit: oh I also love the fact that it automatically remembers where you have been reading. This means that you can have several works on the go, if you want, and there is no fuss in regards to finding your place. No more losing bookmarks too.

[AjaxAscendant]

Well, a balance of both, but being a college student, I've had to depend more on the latter.

[Seasider]

Glad to hear you have received your Kindle and are enjoying it. I got one of the first available in UK and I believe later versions have a longer battery life, but anyway it all depends on how much you use. I dont get much more than a week with mine.
Well Enjoy!

[mal4mac]

Well guess what just dropped through the post about half an hour ago? Woo hoo!!!

First impressions are very promising. Very smart looking device, easy to navigate (even for me) and I've already got used to the features that I'm interested in using such as the dictionary and highlight/notes/bookmark functions. Very promising.

(To use the dictionary function during reading you just simply move the cursor behind the selected word and up hovers the definition, with the option to press to go into a full ramble. Very quick and easy to use.)

I have created my first folder into which I have put my free copies of Dorian Gray and some collected short stories of Maupassant and Chekhov. I'm quite a happy chap.

Apparently there is a three hour charge and then it should be OK for about a month, but it still lets your read/play with it while it is plugged in via the USB cable. Definitely the future of reading. Sorry Emil.

Edit: oh I also love the fact that it automatically remembers where you have been reading. This means that you can have several works on the go, if you want, and there is no fuss in regards to finding your place. No more losing bookmarks too.

Thanks Neely, I'm almost persuaded. I'm still worried about using it 'long term'. But to test that I guess I'll just have to get one!

I just read that the Kindle uses the New Oxford American dictionary, with a choice for the Oxford Dictionary of English. I love my old Concise OED, so the Kindle having its big brother makes it very attractive.

Amazon don't have hundreds of Chekhov short stories for free, I notice. But Project Gutenberg do!

There's some fuss in the Washington Post about 'characters' uploading Chekhov short stories into Amazon from Project Gutenberg and making $ from the efforts of editors working for free. Fortunately Gutenberg has a Kindle option, and Amazon even tells you how to download from Gutenberg.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Neely sat eating a cheese sandwich and recalled the days of Hugh Fernley Whittingstall and real bread and cheese as opposed to the cardboard and plastic he was now munching...
...Four days later, he was released and went home to order the latest tome by JK Rowling for his Kindle. Big Kindle had won.
He loved Harry Potter.

Haha! Brilliant Emil.

Couldn't you get out one of those plastic across the bath soap holder things they used to have in the 70s? Do you remember them? They were like a bridge over the water to keep your soap/ beer/ cloths/ shaving stuff on. I haven't seen one for years, but perhaps they'll make a comeback as Kindle savers.

Well guess what just dropped through the post about half an hour ago? Woo hoo!!! ....

Neely, or to any other bathtub bookies, if you would have held off ordering your Kindle for one more year, the RD department has been developing the "Kindle Kanoe" and Nook is working on the "Nookie Dinghy" complete with dock cleats that attach to the side of the tub for tie off.
Glad to hear you enjoy it.
I've had a Nook for nearly a year now. It is a nifty device. One great advantage over the real McCoy, is the ability to read outside on windy days and not having to worry about pages blowing over. However, I will never give up entirely on paper books for the many reasons Emil and others have cited above, but most of all to satisfy my lust for the smell of old paper. Perhaps e-book RD can add a scratch and sniff feature.

.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Glad to hear you have received your Kindle and are enjoying it. I got one of the first available in UK and I believe later versions have a longer battery life, but anyway it all depends on how much you use. I dont get much more than a week with mine.
Well Enjoy!

Thanks a lot. I wish I had got one sooner now, especially during university, it would have saved me a deal of time and money. Never mind. I'll see how long my lasts on a full battery then, though it obviously varies with how much you use it. However mine was fully charged after about 2 hours and you can just plug it into the back of a computer or laptop so it's not even a bother.

Thanks Neely, I'm almost persuaded. I'm still worried about using it 'long term'. But to test that I guess I'll just have to get one!

I just read that the Kindle uses the New Oxford American dictionary, with a choice for the Oxford Dictionary of English. I love my old Concise OED, so the Kindle having its big brother makes it very attractive.

Amazon don't have hundreds of Chekhov short stories for free, I notice. But Project Gutenberg do!

There's some fuss in the Washington Post about 'characters' uploading Chekhov short stories into Amazon from Project Gutenberg and making $ from the efforts of editors working for free. Fortunately Gutenberg has a Kindle option, and Amazon even tells you how to download from Gutenberg.

Thanks I've just got The Idiot (been wanting to read that for a while) to my kindle from Gutenberg dead easy. Just download to your comp and then email it to your kindle (you get your own kindle email address). Yes the Chekhov short stories I've got for free are smaller collections on Amazon.

Haha! Brilliant Emil.

Neely, or to any other bathtub bookies, if you would have held off ordering your Kindle for one more year, the RD department has been developing the "Kindle Kanoe" and Nook is working on the "Nookie Dinghy" complete with dock cleats that attach to the side of the tub for tie off.
Glad to hear you enjoy it.
I've had a Nook for nearly a year now. It is a nifty device. One great advantage over the real McCoy, is the ability to read outside on windy days and not having to worry about pages blowing over. However, I will never give up entirely on paper books for the many reasons Emil and others have cited above, but most of all to satisfy my lust for the smell of old paper. Perhaps e-book RD can add a scratch and sniff feature.

Oh damn, never mind, I'll just have to use those old fashioned paper things in the bath. How behind the times!!

[B. Laumness]

I don’t think I shall use the e-book because:
- the paper book is not only an object, it is a living object that has a smell, a distinct form, a body made of pages and a skin that is the cover; an object that grows old, with pages that become yellow, that are sometimes torn and stained, between which it happens you find a hair or a dead bug; an object that has an history, that you bought one time – and generally you remember when –, that you read in order to appropriate the content for your own use, and thus you are the proprietor of the book, not simply of an indistinct product, even if it is mass-produced; and being proprietor, you can make notes on it, you give a supplement of life; and being proprietor, you can hand down your books to your friends and heirs;
- the library is part of your history; for a well-read person, it is even the most precious part of the house; for that, you always find a place, otherwise that would mean your books have no value;
- with a tool such as the Kindle, you can read in the same format, in the same conditions, a masterpiece, a newspaper and a trashy book: this tool of non-differentiation is a great danger for the idea of singularity of the work and of the author;
- with a tool such as the Kindle, you have access to tons of free books, but one is always more attached to what one paid;
- with a tool such as the Kindle, it is inevitable that you will download tons of free books, the complete works of Chekov, Maupassant, Dickens, Hardy, Voltaire, Balzac, etc., but will you read them? not sure, because when you have too many choices, you do not know how to start, and eventually you read nothing or almost, at least you will not read the books entirely and profoundly; because a good reader does not know what he will read in a month or in a year; he does not know what he will discover, nor what he will want to reread: it is absurd to make long lists of books you plan to read, as absurd as if you want to fix your future life;
- with those technologies, which are fast and changing, you will not have the patience to build a library one book after another, you will not have the concentration necessary to slowly absorb the content, you cannot help using all the possibilities of these technologies hic et nunc and acquiring many books in a short time; but have you ever read a thousand books in… let’s say five years? no, of course, rare are those who read over a hundred books a year;
- therefore, the readers of e-books are or will become superficial, philistines, slaves of the technologies, whereas the book is ideally an instrument of liberty.

[Emil Miller]

I don’t think I shall use the e-book because:
- the paper book is not only an object, it is a living object that has a smell, a distinct form, a body made of pages and a skin that is the cover; an object that grows old, with pages that become yellow, that are sometimes torn and stained, between which it happens you find a hair or a dead bug; an object that has an history, that you bought one time – and generally you remember when –, that you read in order to appropriate the content for your own use, and thus you are the proprietor of the book, not simply of an indistinct product, even if it is mass-produced; and being proprietor, you can make notes on it, you give a supplement of life; and being proprietor, you can hand down your books to your friends and heirs;
- the library is part of your history; for a well-read person, it is even the most precious part of the house; for that, you always find a place, otherwise that would mean your books have no value;
- with a tool such as the Kindle, you can read in the same format, in the same conditions, a masterpiece, a newspaper and a trashy book: this tool of non-differentiation is a great danger for the idea of singularity of the work and of the author;
- with a tool such as the Kindle, you have access to tons of free books, but one is always more attached to what one paid;
- with a tool such as the Kindle, it is inevitable that you will download tons of free books, the complete works of Chekov, Maupassant, Dickens, Hardy, Voltaire, Balzac, etc., but will you read them? not sure, because when you have too many choices, you do not know how to start, and eventually you read nothing or almost, at least you will not read the books entirely and profoundly; because a good reader does not know what he will read in a month or in a year; he does not know what he will discover, nor what he will want to reread: it is absurd to make long lists of books you plan to read, as absurd as if you want to fix your future life;
- with those technologies, which are fast and changing, you will not have the patience to build a library one book after another, you will not have the concentration necessary to slowly absorb the content, you cannot help using all the possibilities of these technologies hic et nunc and acquiring many books in a short time; but have you ever read a thousand books in… let’s say five years? no, of course, rare are those who read over a hundred books a year;
- therefore, the readers of e-books are or will become superficial, philistines, slaves of the technologies, whereas the book is ideally an instrument of liberty.

You raise several interesting points. I notice that you are posting from France where the dichotomy between technology and the arts is a major topic of the media. This is understandable because France has become digitalised more noticeably than other European countries and its social impact is proportionately stronger.
I don't think literature is admired anywhere more than in France where it is almost like a religion but, conversely, there are few peoples who have taken to digitalisation with more fervour than the French.
Much of what you say regarding the psychology behind the use of E-readers is true, but the lure of gadgetry, that is constantly being fostered by the companies that produce it, will most likely ensure the eventual disappearance of books.

[Paulclem]

I don’t think I shall use the e-book because:
- the paper book is not only an object, it is a living object that has a smell, a distinct form, a body made of pages and a skin that is the cover; an object that grows old, with pages that become yellow, that are sometimes torn and stained, between which it happens you find a hair or a dead bug; an object that has an history, that you bought one time – and generally you remember when –, that you read in order to appropriate the content for your own use, and thus you are the proprietor of the book, not simply of an indistinct product, even if it is mass-produced; and being proprietor, you can make notes on it, you give a supplement of life; and being proprietor, you can hand down your books to your friends and heirs;
- the library is part of your history; for a well-read person, it is even the most precious part of the house; for that, you always find a place, otherwise that would mean your books have no value;
- with a tool such as the Kindle, you can read in the same format, in the same conditions, a masterpiece, a newspaper and a trashy book: this tool of non-differentiation is a great danger for the idea of singularity of the work and of the author;
- with a tool such as the Kindle, you have access to tons of free books, but one is always more attached to what one paid;
- with a tool such as the Kindle, it is inevitable that you will download tons of free books, the complete works of Chekov, Maupassant, Dickens, Hardy, Voltaire, Balzac, etc., but will you read them? not sure, because when you have too many choices, you do not know how to start, and eventually you read nothing or almost, at least you will not read the books entirely and profoundly; because a good reader does not know what he will read in a month or in a year; he does not know what he will discover, nor what he will want to reread: it is absurd to make long lists of books you plan to read, as absurd as if you want to fix your future life;
- with those technologies, which are fast and changing, you will not have the patience to build a library one book after another, you will not have the concentration necessary to slowly absorb the content, you cannot help using all the possibilities of these technologies hic et nunc and acquiring many books in a short time; but have you ever read a thousand books in… let’s say five years? no, of course, rare are those who read over a hundred books a year;
- therefore, the readers of e-books are or will become superficial, philistines, slaves of the technologies, whereas the book is ideally an instrument of liberty.

We live in unprecedented times for both books and technology. This myth of building your own library from a careful consideration of choices is a relatively recent phenomenon. 100 years ago the literacy and finances did not exist for anyone but the well off to achieve. This perpetuated into the 50s and 60s when, whilst there were books available that were cheap enough, the reading habits of the lower classess were still not attuned to what can be possible. In our house we had few books, though luckily by the 70s, they were cheap enough for me to afford with my pocket money.

So we've had 50 years of books being available widely to a reading public, yet I recently read a report on Adult Numeracy where the statistics talked about children in households with less than 20 books being at a serious disadvantage. So there are a statistically significant number of households that have 20 books or less.

In my view anything that does give access to literature and any reading is good, because it won't - in Britain anyway - now be the cost of books, but the habits of reading that preclude collections in houses.

As for philistines and slaves - well there are plenty of owners of e-readers on this forum.

Edit: Oh and don't mention the bugs and stains to the obsessive/compulsives.