e-book or paper book?

[alexM]

Thanks a lot. I'm glad to know that the paper books are popular. I deside to read a book in a comfartable chair.

[amalia1985]

Yes, in front of the fireplace, or sitting by the window, listening to the rain outside...We cannot do that with e-books...

[_JadeRain_]

paper books

[Dori]

Yes, in front of the fireplace, or sitting by the window, listening to the rain outside...We cannot do that with e-books...

Sure you can. You just have to shell out $300+ on one of those new ebook readers (iLiad, Kindle, etc.).

[robert1325]

Thought I'd chime in as well, I've been the owner of a cybook ereader for 3 months now and can't really say which I prefer.

I still read both and it entirely depends on the book, where I read etc. , for reading in bed on your side the ereader is better (no clumsy turning of pages and cramps in your arms etc.) For reading on the beach, digital is probably not such a great idea. Having said that,the added benefit of having a digital oxford dictionary without carrying the weight also counts.

So , in my opinion it's not really the one or the other, both are great.

[bazarov]

Paper books, no way I will ever read e-books. Once I printed 200 pages instead of watching in screen for hours.

[amalia1985]

Sure you can. You just have to shell out $300+ on one of those new ebook readers (iLiad, Kindle, etc.).

[Kafka's Crow]

As far as eInk is concerned, seeing is believing. I can't wait till summer, this summer will be the summer of reading in garden. No need to carry loads of books on my holidays either. I stopped doing that a couple of years earlier when I started reading on my Pocket PC. I would rather carry a thousand books on my ereader than drag a few paperback around. It is like the Abbasid caliph of Baghdad (I think it was Haroun ul Raschid), he never traveled without his whole library. But he needed hundreds of camels and an army of librarians to make possible that instant access to knowledge, anywhere any time. My iLiad sorts the books and I can search any title out of my hundreds of books within seconds. Each to his own. These readers are well over-priced but that's what happens with emerging technologies. My 4 GB iPod cost me £280 in 2001. Now you can buy the top of the range machine for that money. Epaper is expensive but within some years its price will come down and many would change their mind about it like they did about the iPod.

[Takeahnase]

I prefer paper books. The feel, the smell... physically turning the pages as you read. That said, I do see the practicality of having one of these e-book readers. It would save me lugging a bag full of books on holiday with me when I can't decide on just one to read. I'd still much prefer a traditional book though, given the choice.

I'm not a fan at all of reading e-books online. My eyes just can't stand the strain of looking at the screen for so long and so I tend not to bother. It's nice to be able to go along to the park or to curl up in bed with a book rather than being chained to the computer. Although, they're incredibly useful when I'm unable to find what I want in my local library, or want to re-read a certain section without having to buy/borrow the book again. I've read a couple of short stories on the internet, e.g. Animal Farm a chapter at a time inbetween waiting for my stubborn computer to load up fully, which has saved me from having to go and dig them out/find them. So they're useful to me in that respect.

I think the growing accessibility of books as new gadgets come onto the market is a great thing. I think the traditional paper printed books will always be most people's preferred choice, but the ability to store scores of texts onto a palm-sized device has a lot of practical benefits that might encourage more people to read. I'll probably buy an e-reader in the distant future when they're dirt cheap, but nothing will really beat having the real thing in my hands.

[JustinColorado]

well when someone gets a leather bound book that contains maybe 10 pages that i can turn thru then start over as i read from a memory card of say 1,000 titles ... that would be cool

so, mimic the experience of paper but with a vast access to titles and content.. that will be cool and a product!

[capek]

I hate reading ebooks, except for learning tools. But for fiction/non-fiction/etc I have to have a physical book in my hand.

[tlnmember1]

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Ya'll should know that reading paper books is written into the Law of the Universe already...it's just natural, like gravity. But if I can get my elderly mother one of those Sony things and a million books, she'll be the happiest person in the world. And I'm working on downloading my first eBook on my new Blackberry phone, for reading when I'm stuck someplace with nothing to do.

What I don't like is the new rubber binding on paperbacks, that doesn't let the page lay flat in your hands. I just don't have enough muscle any more to keep those pages from closing all the time. It's just plain awful.

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[EricP]

I have an Amazon Kindle and I love it! Now I can carry a library of hundreds of books around with me everywhere I go. I used to spend way too much money on books, but now I download most of my books for free, or at least well below the cost of the paper copy. The only thing that I hate about the Kindle is the lack of page numbers..."location numbers" aren't the same as good ol' page numbers!

[Seabird111]

Paper. I started to read Crime and Punishment. I got a headache .

[Trystan]

Paper books . . . I get a headache if I read too much from the screen. Damn, I hope those ebook reader things won't put paper books out of business eventually.