physical books vs. ebooks

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

It depends in my case. If the book is for reading, then hard copy all the way.

But if the book is a technical book about something, then digital because I can search that piece of data I remember seeing 3 years ago.

A shame, because nothing beats sitting with a real book, a cup of hot cocoa and a cigarette. But man, every time you want to look up something...

[Rainbowtrout]

Well, for when I just want to read a book, or a massive reference book, hard copy all they way. Advice here, there is no greater joy in life than buying a 1000+ page reference book, and carrying it down the street. I've been there. For some fiction, and coding books, ebooks work well. Also, Hardback> because of book smell.

[SpaceXray]

I love e-books. I can carry around a thousand books with me, plus finding them in the language I want is very easy and in the right format. I download and install ebooks right on my device and it takes less than 5 min unlike having to go to the book store or library+it's free.

[Javster]

You can't get an e-book free from a library.

Actually with some you can. You can't get an book from home for free either.

[TythosEternal]

I'm a big fan of the physical reading experience. My wife puts up with my book collecting (my 1898 Kipling is my baby), though I've always thought it's much more durable and practical than her equally-feverish lust for shoes. One of my big fantasies, when I strike it rich, is to build a big house in the coastal mountains of Oregon that would be nothing but a huge library with some bedrooms, bathrooms, and a kitchen off to the side. Similarly, I'm always reminding my daughters that Belle is the best Disney princess, because she loves to read and gets that kick-ass library.

Why do I bring these random things up? It is impossible to have the same experiences with an e-book, no matter how good the information density. That having been said, I'd love to get a Nook one of these days for traveling, low-light conditions, and other situations where physical books just aren't practical. It will always be a fallback, though, and never a replacement.

You know what would be awesome? Barnes and Noble (where I drop about half my expendable income on a regular basis) should, for members, give you a free electronic copy of each physical book you purchase, sort of like how movie publishers are finally letting you access digital copies of films when you but the physical disc.

[StrandedonEarth]

I'm a heavy reader but not much ebook experience. I found the interface on my mom's Kobo to be clunky and hard to find what I wanted from stuff already on it. iTunes seemed a little pricey for ebooks, but then again paperbacks have gone through the roof lately too. What I really liked about iBooks was being able to find whatever I wanted ("Tales From the Man-Kzin Wars I-XI" anyone?) but $10 a pop adds up fast.

[Astronut]

I travel a lot for work. I almost exclusively read books on my iPad these days. I also can carry with me all the training manuals for the airplane I fly which weigh a ton in paper format (I have paper copies too that I keep at home but rarely use).

I have a pretty decent paper book collection at home too. Mostly aviation history, astronomy and space exploration subjects. I have also stared reading magazines in electronic format and it works pretty well overall.