How many of you read an actual paper book?

[Plainsman]

I suspect there are generational differences at work here, at least partially. Some of us older citizens grew up with great respect and affection for the printed word in book form. You might say that we almost revered the concept of the book. I like the electronic alternatives. It's wonderful to be able to take a hundred or so books along on a long trip. But I really hope that the enthusiasm for electronic reading material doesn't get out of hand and do us all a great disservice in the long run.

 

[singlestick]

I suspect there are generational differences at work here, at least partially. Some of us older citizens grew up with great respect and affection for the printed word in book form. You might say that we almost revered the concept of the book. I like the electronic alternatives. It's wonderful to be able to take a hundred or so books along on a long trip. But I really hope that the enthusiasm for electronic reading material doesn't get out of hand and do us all a great disservice in the long run.

Books are fairly recent inventions, and paperbacks are even more recent. But it is typical that people want to think of the technology that they grew up with as natural or authentic, and newer stuff as somehow suspect or provisional. But it is a faulty nostalgia. I'm sure that there were people who revered scrolls and thought that this was the best way to preserve information and literature. It will be interesting if we are around to see what next develops.

 

[The Alternative]

I love electronic books but I will never stop purchasing paper books. It's impossible to replace my signed "Stranger in a Strange Land" for instance, or the 100 other signed paper books I own with an electronic version (just wouldn't be the same.) I know that Gollantz plans to release 1,000+ out-of-print books in ebook format next year but looking at the list of authors it's not yet an incentive for me to toss out all my no longer available out-of-print books. Plus, there is a hard to explain quality about holding a paper book in my hands. Don't get me wrong I love reading on the iPad but I also enjoy holding a hardcover book in my hands, as well.

Why toss them out?

Pardon me, but I keep getting the impression that people are going out of their way to be stupid about this, and that comment is a good example. Owning an EBook reader doesn't make your current print books unusable, unlike the way the switch from Betamax to VHS made you existing library unusable, or the switch from 8-track to Cassette did.

Think before you post.

Wayne

Hmmm.... Obviously you didn't take the time to read my post. Why toss them out, indeed? If you read what I wrote I was advocating just the opposite.

 

[mjtyler]

I love books, the smell, the feel the read, however since having IFAH ( I for iPad) I have moved across to ebooks. I don't miss the feel of books because I still get the read. I have a large book shelf with many books and now have started my electronic collection. I will never throw my paper books out because they still serve a visual representation, but I am getting used to and learning to love my ebook collection.

 

[singlestick]

Actually since getting the iPad I have actually been being hard cover of the ebooks I really like. I have been slowly getting rid of a lot of my paperbacks especially the ones that are not in that good of shape and replacing the paperbacks with ebooks.

It has been a good visual improvement to our library. My wife wasn't a big fan of how my scifi/fantasy book shelves looked full of paper backs but now since I have replaced a lot of the really good ones with hard covers I don't get nearly as many complaints.

Very interesting that you are replacing your paperbacks with ebooks. I hadn't considered this before, but I understand the logic behind it. It is interesting to see that it is not simply ebooks vs physical books, and to learn about the different choices people make.

 

[MoneyGuy]

I suspect there are generational differences at work here, at least partially. Some of us older citizens grew up with great respect and affection for the printed word in book form. You might say that we almost revered the concept of the book. I like the electronic alternatives. It's wonderful to be able to take a hundred or so books along on a long trip. But I really hope that the enthusiasm for electronic reading material doesn't get out of hand and do us all a great disservice in the long run.

^This.

I read on my iPad, iPhone and real books. I also listen to audio books, which has become my favorite way of getting a book. I can listen in the car, walking the dog, whatever. I hope actual books never disappear. I don't think they ever will.

 

[pEAcEmAKeR]

Big Nate FTW!!
^Yeah, I've been reading his comic books a lot lately. It's a little annoying having notifications popping up while reading iBooks.

 

[Plainsman]

I suspect there are generational differences at work here, at least partially. Some of us older citizens grew up with great respect and affection for the printed word in book form. You might say that we almost revered the concept of the book. I like the electronic alternatives. It's wonderful to be able to take a hundred or so books along on a long trip. But I really hope that the enthusiasm for electronic reading material doesn't get out of hand and do us all a great disservice in the long run.

Books are fairly recent inventions, and paperbacks are even more recent. But it is typical that people want to think of the technology that they grew up with as natural or authentic, and newer stuff as somehow suspect or provisional. But it is a faulty nostalgia. I'm sure that there were people who revered scrolls and thought that this was the best way to preserve information and literature. It will be interesting if we are around to see what next develops.

I believe you have misinterpreted, or over-interpreted, my post. A little reading problem perhaps?

 

[singlestick]

I suspect there are generational differences at work here, at least partially. Some of us older citizens grew up with great respect and affection for the printed word in book form. You might say that we almost revered the concept of the book. I like the electronic alternatives. It's wonderful to be able to take a hundred or so books along on a long trip. But I really hope that the enthusiasm for electronic reading material doesn't get out of hand and do us all a great disservice in the long run.

Books are fairly recent inventions, and paperbacks are even more recent. But it is typical that people want to think of the technology that they grew up with as natural or authentic, and newer stuff as somehow suspect or provisional. But it is a faulty nostalgia. I'm sure that there were people who revered scrolls and thought that this was the best way to preserve information and literature. It will be interesting if we are around to see what next develops.

I believe you have misinterpreted, or over-interpreted, my post. A little reading problem perhaps?

I don't think so. People have a comfortable fondness for whatever stuff they grow up with. It's like writers who revered typewriters long after everyone else moved on to word processing software. It's more about individual comfort zones than anything generational.

 

[mjtyler]

I don't think so. People have a comfortable fondness for whatever stuff they grow up with. It's like writers who revered typewriters long after everyone else moved on to word processing software. It's more about individual comfort zones than anything generational.

I agree. I have been pondering with the idea of getting my brother in law an e reader for some time because you can change font size and so on but he really prefers the paper feel so I have been putting it off. He is quite computer literate (he's 70) but just prefers e paper feel to the electronic.

 

[Plainsman]

It doesn't seem logical to me to try so hard to separate "generational issues" from "individual comfort zones." They seem pretty closely related to me. One very often arises out of the other.

 

[singlestick]

It doesn't seem logical to me to try so hard to separate "generational issues" from "individual comfort zones." They seem pretty closely related to me. One very often arises out of the other.

Not at all. Some people, no matter what generation they belong to, quickly adopt a new technology, and immediately incorporate it into their lives. Other people resist it and come up with very interesting, but historically dubious, explanations to explain their reluctance to adopt new technology.

I once was involved in an online discussion with someone who talked about the importance of books to a reading culture, and mentioned Dickens and Conan Doyle as examples. Of course, the works of Dickens and the Sherlock Holmes stories were originally released to the public via newspapers and magazines. The incorporation of these works into novels came later. This does not make the novels unimportant, but there is a larger context, and novels are just one way of transmitting stories. Ebooks fit very comfortably into this larger tradition.

 

[wayneborean]

Big Nate FTW!!
^Yeah, I've been reading his comic books a lot lately. It's a little annoying having notifications popping up while reading iBooks.

I have notifications turned of on my IPad. They are turned on on the IPhone. Different device, different usage pattern. I expect the phone to interrupt me

Wayne

 

[wayneborean]

Not at all. Some people, no matter what generation they belong to, quickly adopt a new technology, and immediately incorporate it into their lives. Other people resist it and come up with very interesting, but historically dubious, explanations to explain their reluctance to adopt new technology.

I once was involved in an online discussion with someone who talked about the importance of books to a reading culture, and mentioned Dickens and Conan Doyle as examples. Of course, the works of Dickens and the Sherlock Holmes stories were originally released to the public via newspapers and magazines. The incorporation of these works into novels came later. This does not make the novels unimportant, but there is a larger context, and novels are just one way of transmitting stories. Ebooks fit very comfortably into this larger tradition.

My father-in-law who passed away in his seventies a couple of years ago freaked everyone out by learning DOS and computerizing everything. Some of his kids still haven't figured out what computers are. There kids have...

Wayne

 

[dstuttgen]

I shocked my co-workers one day. They were startled to find me reading a paper book and were all like "OMG". I got a Kindle 1 for xmas in 2008 and haven't looked back. And my wife was afraid I wasn't gonna like it. heh heh.

Cheers, Dan