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Physical Books or Ebooks?

What is your preferred book format?

  • Physical books

    Votes: 15 78.9%
  • Ebooks

    Votes: 3 15.8%
  • I don't read anything except the FE forums

    Votes: 1 5.3%

  • Total voters
    19
  • Poll votes is visible for users with special permission.

Q2

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Comments in another thread got me to thinking: what is your preferred book experience? For me, I've pretty much embraced Ebooks much like buying music and games online. At 33 with a wife and two kids, and still stuck in an 800 sq ft condo space is very limited. Going digital has greatly opened up all sorts of shelf space for me. Only under rare circumstances do I still buy physical books, Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole being a rare exception. (I got that last week.)

So are you still mainly buying physical books or have you gone the digital route and why?
 

Kal-El

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My built-in shelves are running out of space fast, but I still prefer physical books by a mile.
There's that smell of new that you just can't beat. Turning over a page... a kindle can't beat that! :)
 

nOmArch

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I don't think ebooks will ever replace the complete tactile book experience, Being able to flip a hundred pages forward in a mmatter of seconds, flipping to the back cover to reread the blurb/synopsis on the back etc .etc. is far easier than with an ebook. But as has been mentioned oh dear god the space saving utterly wins!

I prefer the 'experience' you get with a book but ebooks are hands down more practical.
 

reave

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Physical. I like to keep whatever media I own within my control.

Perhaps it's a fear that the powers that be might somehow alter the original material...
 

Sunarep

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Q2 said:
Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole being a rare exception. (I got that last week.)

So are you still mainly buying physical books or have you gone the digital route and why?


slightly OT - did you get the limited release?
 

Q2

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I do like the smell of books, and showing them off on shelves is nice, but from a practicality standpoint Ebooks is just better for me. No shelf space required, immediate delivery, weight and, most importantly, wandering mind. I've found over the years if I'm reading a physical book my mind can start to wander fairly quickly, but with an Ebook I'm forced to hit the turn page button every 20-30 seconds so it keeps me focused. I actually read faster with an Ebook these days.

Also, its rare for me to go back and re-read books once I've finished them. The rare exceptions I'll pick up a physical copy, but otherwise I feel the $5 or $6 to buy an Ebook is much like spending money at the movies.

Sunarep said:
slightly OT - did you get the limited release?

I did, from Grant. I have all the DT stuff from Grant.
 

QuickCut

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There needs to be an option for "both."

While I prefer physical books, I still read on my Kindle sometimes, especially if I don't have a lot of space on a trip or something. Nothing will ever match the experience - the page turning, the smell, just the feel of having a normal book in your hand, but since e-books are better for space saving, I'd have to say that I don't prefer one of them over the other all the time.
 

Q2

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QuickCut said:
There needs to be an option for "both."

Ahh... but that defeats the purpose of the poll. What is your "preferred" format, not what format do you use. :)
 

addiesin

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I like ebooks in theory but in practice I don't end up reading them, instead I just end up collecting them, knowing that I have them on me at all times and I can access them whenever I want. It kind of kills the desire. It's extremely satisfying to take a new book, not-yet-creased or wrinkled, and just rip and bend and fold the hell out of it as you push through the text jungle toward the end. You can use anything you want as a bookmark, never have to charge or wait for it to load, and it just feels good to look and see how thick it is with pages that you have just devoured. I really really like the idea, but it's much much easier to read a physical book.
 

Mark Moore

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reave said:
Physical. I like to keep whatever media I own within my control.

Perhaps it's a fear that the powers that be might somehow alter the original material...

Well, that's when you back stuff up on CDs and DVDs. :)

As for me, ebooks - even though I've bought only one. I have a lot of paperbacks to read, but I find that having to leave my computer, go into my bedroom, and pull one out deters me. It's much easier for me to open up something on my comp (my happy place).
 

havok1977

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Be it novels, comics or GNs I like to own the literature that I pay for. A file just doesn't give much of a sense of ownership in my mind.

Plus I wont fall for Apple's evil, no iPad here tyvm.
 

nOmArch

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Much as I would like to have an Ipad I don't think I could use it as an ereader, E-Ink all the way baby.
 

ThrowgnCpr

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physical. I really like the idea of a physical creation. For a variety of reasons. most obvious for me: It's easier to enjoy and I spend too much time already staring at screens.
 

nOmArch

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Re staring at screens, that's why I got a Kindle; the e-ink display is utterly fantastic and gives zero eye strain even after a few hours.
 

ssj

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ditto the three thumbs-up for e-ink. love mah kindle.

but there are books that can't be successfully transferred to e-readers, like stuart clark's Galaxy, a photo-heavy collection of astronomical images.
 

Q2

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I, too, prefer the Kindle over the iPad when it comes to reading electronically, though I will be curious to see how the iPad 3 fairs with the higher resolution. Will it improve the reading comfort? Maybe. I guess I'll find out on Friday.
 

nOmArch

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I doubt a higher resolution will make much difference to eye strain but if they've managed to reduce the glare and produce more of a matte finish for the ereader app that should work.
 

DJO

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Greetings All,
like many, l love the feel and smell of a physical book, but as l am disabled and no longer able to turn pages, E Books have become the ultimate solution for satisfying my reading bug.
:)
 

Gatos

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Physical books easy. Nothing like holding a book, turning the pages etc. And I can't get excited about reading stuff on a screen
 
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