E book (digital) versus paper book, which do you prefer?

[Duckfan]

I just got my Kindle about a month ago and I am always surprised by the reaction from others. Most people tell me they would not get a kindle because they love the feel of a book. So do I but I am an avid reader so to me it just seems like part of a whole picture. I read the newspaper, magazines, books (I still get them from the library and some used), and my books on Kindle. However, I buy some used books but really never frequent used book stores so I think that is your real question. I think you are also in competition any more with all the thrift stores which can sell used books much cheaper. I have talked with several used book store people over the years and none of them thought it was a very profitable living, but they liked it enough to keep doing it.

 

[lspst8]

I want real books!! After spending the whole day staring at a computer screen why would I want to look at another screen to read?! A real book is so much better for my eyes and I just love having books on a shelf. not stored on a hard drive.

I totally agree with this. I spend 10 hours a day looking at a screen, so I have no desire to own a Kindle or the like. I have an hour lunch break, and always have a real, made-of-paper book to read just so I can rest my eyes.

 

[3boymthr]

The used book store where I shop is really doing well. The owner can hardly keep up they've been so busy. The owner said the volume of books coming in and going out has been unbelievable this year. She told me she had a 1,000 books on order in one week (all new) plus the used books that were coming in and going out were nearly double previous years - she thinks a lot of people are trying to go budget in their reading. I know that whenever I'm there there are always at least two or three other groups of customers with people leaving as I go in and coming in as I go out.

As mentioned she orders new books for people at a discount - no matter how obscure or old or expensive - if it's in print she'll order it and I get a 20% discount off the list price and unlike Borders or Barnes and Noble if the book is in stock I usually have it in a few days. She said that drives a lot of her business and while people are there ordering their book the almost always pick up a used book or two.

I think it may also be in part because she is very involved in the community. She stocks new and hunts down used books for the school book lists and has gotten the PTOs to list her as a source for the books - I ordered my son's books there. Plus she sponsors book fund raisers; when I was there the other day she had an order of 200 books for a local book group that was sponsoring an author signing. The book group was going to get a 20% commission on each book.

 

[hearingaidmom]

I totally agree with this. I spend 10 hours a day looking at a screen, so I have no desire to own a Kindle or the like. I have an hour lunch break, and always have a real, made-of-paper book to read just so I can rest my eyes.

Reading on a Kindle is nothing like reading on a computer screen. It looks just like a page from a book. The technology (forgot what Amazon calls it-"something ink") mimics a real book. When I first got my Kindle, it looked so much like a real book, I would reach to turn the page, forgetting that it wasn't a real book. I have read my Kindle for hours without any eyestrain. Nothing at all like looking at a computer.

 

[NY Disney fan]

Overwhelmingly, I pefer real books. For long stretches of reading, nothing beat a Kindle. Life would be divine if most college text books were available on Kindle. LSPST8: A kindle is not "back-lit" (like a video game) so it is not a computer screen. Its like reading real paper.

 

[Pigeon]

Paper, hands down.

I spend too many hours staring at a computer screen. It's just not relaxing the way reading a real book is.

 

[DisneyKevin]

Paper, hands down.

I spend too many hours staring at a computer screen. It's just not relaxing the way reading a real book is.

As others have already stated...reading on a Kindle (or Sony Reader) is nothing like reading on a computer.

A computer screen is backlit which causes great eyestrain. Also a computer screen is stationary.

The Kindle (and Sony Reader) use a technology known as "e ink". It simulates actual paper.

A Kindle weighs in at about 8 ounces, which is much less than most hard back books and some paperbacks.

Reading even the thickest of novels can be done with one hand when reading on a Kindle. Pages can be turned with the same hand holding the device.

Until you have tried reading on a Kindle (or Sont Reader) assuming that it is similar to a computer screen is an erroneous preconceived notion.

You should give it a try. It still might not be for you....but it's nothing like looking at a computer screen,

 

[MelanieC]

I don't find that reading my Kindle is like reading a computer screen. It's 100% like reading a page on a book. So easy and the best part when I leave and come back I'm on the same page

I pull mine out in lines, when waiting for something. It's great!

 

[EJ4Disney]

I love to read and I love books.

But with that said I love my Kindle more. I have totally run out out bookshelf space and like others have said I never go back to reread a book I have already read either. I live in a very rural town and the closest B & N is about 2 1/2 hours away so this works the best for me.

Good luck with your endevor, but I do think that we are going more to online, e Books and virtual reads.

 

[Kies99]

Paper here as well.

As already stated, there's just something about the feel and smell of a book. I also love seeing them on my bookshelves. I'm working on having shelves cover all 4 walls of my "man cave". So far I've got about 400 books (both hard and soft; fiction and non) that are on the shelves and I've read them all.

That being said, I do want to get something like the Kindle for travel. Just waiting for them to really take off so the price comes down a lot more.

 

[penguin087]

I love books. I like the smell, the feel, and just owning books. I have yerned for a good used book store in my area for years. Even thought it might be a retirement business for us.
Now...I ordered a Kindle about 2 months ago. My family said "you're going to hate that thing, you love books". I figured I would use both and probably not like the kindle as much as a book. It is amazing how quickly I got used to the kindle! I love the thing. It is so much more comfortale to read from it than from a book. I still have some real books around that I haven't read yet. I'm reading one now and I almost can't wait to be done with it so I can go back to my Kindle.
I dont think books are a thing of the past so I may still be tempted to give the business a go. But if someone like me can be turned to a Kindle I would think it will one day become the norm.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

- The Kindle has an onboard dosctionary. I can look up any word right then and there.

Count me solidly in the Kindle camp as well. The only downside I've found is that I can't lend the books to other people. On the flipside, we got my parents a Kindle and now we can share books across states with no hassle.

Main reasons why I prefer a Kindle

-The screen is virtually as good as paper and I can increase the font size when I don't have my glasses or get tired.

- I love the built in dictionary and the ability to easily look things up on Wikipedia.

- I love the ability to search. When I want to go back and see when a character first appeared in a story, it takes me just seconds.

- I love the ability to carry dozens of books with me at any time. I'm almost always in the middle of a fiction book, a couple of non-fiction books, and I sometimes like to jump back to reread a few old classics. I also read to the kids from books on the Kindle. It's like a paperback sized library.

- I love classic (19th century novels) and I can download the for free and load them on my Kindle.

- It is so much more comfortable. No flipping from side to side while laying in bed because I've changed pages. No heavy hardbacks.

- I love the newspaper subscriptions when I travel. If I wake up and feel like the WSJ or the NYT, I don't have to go hunt around the hotel for one.

- I love being able to get new books in an instant. When I read a good book review, I don't have to drive to a store and hunt around. Name a book and I can usually start reading it a minute later.

- I love the samples. I'm rarely at the bookstore or library without kids in tow. I can't sit down and read a chapter of a book there to see if I'll like it. With the Kindle, I can not only read user reviews, I can download the beginning of the book for free to read at my leisure. Sampling has led me to take more chances on books and has saved me from buying several clunkers.

- I love the iPhone sync. Stuck waiting at the doctors? Long line at the checkout stand? I can just whip out my phone and start reading my book wherever I left off on my Kindle.

- I like the lower book prices. I read more now that the books I read are much cheaper.

I did miss the smell/feel/sense of books when I first started. I've been reading for 40 years and books just felt more natural. Now that I've been using Kindles for a couple of years, the opposite has happened. I feel more comfortable with the Kindle and paper books distract me from the story.

My wife and I are both definitely at the point where finding that a book is not available on the Kindle is considered a major disappointment. Fortunately, its becoming increasingly rare.

 

[DisneyKevin]

Ok...thats funny.

I had retina reattachment surgery two weeks ago and my eyesight isnt great yet.

My spelling skills are far better than my typing skills.

What a place to make a typo....jeesh.

Thanks for the laugh.

 

[I Am What I Am]

Real books.

I bring books with me everywhere.

 

[RachelNinja]

I'm going to say that I prefer real books because I love tossing a book in my bag wherever I go. But now that I've read what people have said about the Kindle, it really makes me want to get that too! I could just carry that around everywhere, just like I carry my digi cam everywhere. Of course, the only thing I would worry about is how much easier it would be to break an electronic device than it would be to ruin a book.

I brought 5 books on vacation on vacation that lasted only a week. I only made it through 1.5 of them (we were in Florida for WDW!), but I brought a lot because I wasn't sure what I'd be in a mood to read. A Kindle would fix that problem.

I have been getting into ebooks because the New York Public Library offers it so the convenience is great (automatically "returns" in 21 days). Of course, they're not going to be offering as much as Amazon does.

But despite how much I want a Kindle and love ebooks, I do prefer real books. I want a huge library like the one Beast gave to Belle. Floor to ceiling filled with books. People want a big home theater? I want a huge library, organized in my own way. You know, a ton of classics (I was an English major) and Christian literature and then a section just for all the Babysitter's Club Super Special books that I finally got after purchasing them from Ebay and Amazon Marketplace!

 

[Pumbaa_]

I have been a reader for ever. I have at least 1000 books at home

I now have a kindle and I don't think I will ever go back to paper again. I never thought I would give up my paper, and the feel of it. BUt I have to say, the kindle mimics it quite well, and with my cover I feel like I am holding a book

So now my dilemma is getting rid of 1000 books!

I would not venture into the used book store at this time. Between ebay and amazon, there are too many competing factors.

 

[DisneyTarheel]

I *love* my Kindle. And, since I've wrapped it in one of these: www.oberondesign.com/store/kindle.php I enjoy the feel much more than a paperback. Since purchasing the kindle, the only books I have purchased have been e-books. That being said, I suspect it will be a while before devices like the Kindle have a substantial impact on the b&m bookstores. But, I do view this format as a paradigm-shifting technology.

 

[NotUrsula]

I have been getting into ebooks because the New York Public Library offers it so the convenience is great (automatically "returns" in 21 days). Of course, they're not going to be offering as much as Amazon does.

Just FYI, at this point, libraries cannot stock Kindle-compatible titles. The Amazon DRM software is a barrier. Some libraries have tried to lend Kindles, but that doesn't work, either, because a live Kindle requires a linked credit-card account. The only way that they've been able to manage it is to pre-load the Kindle with a whole set of related titles, then disable the CC account that it is linked to, so that if you try to use the Kindle for another download, it will reject the transaction on the grounds that the CC is declined. (This is a *huge* accounting PITA, as it means that libraries have to open dozens of credit card accounts that will only be used once and then closed.)

My professional opinion on e-books vs. paper? Depends on the type of content. Electronic versions are most popular for books that people browse but do not read, especially reference books of any kind, and for books used for class reading. For lovers of paperback-only pulp fiction, the book wins, because they are cheaper than Kindle books and lend themselves better to reading outdoors and in situations where an electronic book reader might get damaged or not hold power. They also lend themselves better to swapping, which Amazon does not condone for for Kindle users.

The advantage of text-to-voice conversion in the Kindle WOULD be terrific if it were not for two things: 1) It doesn't work for the blind because you still have to use the screen to open the voice menu, and 2) Publishers are insisting upon the right to turn it off at their discretion. They want to protect their audiobook sales.

I think that the Kindle is a nice tool, and it will be very popular with more affluent consumers, military personnel, and frequent travelers of all stripes. Among low-income leisure readers I don't think that there is a wide market for it.

I think that what you need to look at is the home-internet-access saturation in your community, and also the circulation statistics of the local public library. If the library circulation is WAY up over last year, then your people are not buying books right now. The internet connection numbers will help in terms of how easy it is for them to get info elsewhere. If you have a lot of non-wired households and the only bookselling competition locally is Wal-Mart, then you've got a fighting chance, especially if you try to create a bit of a social-club atmosphere at the store, with book groups and such.

 

[disneyhand]

disneyhand, are these new book stores? We were thinking that in a lousy economy people would be more careful with money and more likely to go to a used bookstore.

Very interesting. Thank you all for taking the time to respond.

They sell both new and used books.

 

[Narnian_Princess]

Books for me. When the price goes down I may look into getting a Kindle, but I am a poor college student right now and paying >$200 for one isn't working for me. Plus I don't have the time to read that I used to (scratch that-- I do, it's just I have to read my textbooks instead!) and it just isn't practical right now. So I will stick with my beloved paper books.