Friday, February 11, 2011

The Electronic Book Question

One of my regular readers sent me a link to a very interesting post about the fate of electronic books.

I have to say I wholeheartedly agree with what he says. I'm one of those people who I think will never go completely over to electronic books, no matter how popular they get. I like the feel of a book in my hands, the ability to flip to favorite passages to re-read them, and the look of my books sitting on a bookshelf too much. Plus, there will always be books that don't translate well to ebook format, such as graphic novels or some picture books.

Actually, since I'm kind of an illustration junkie, I don't think I'll ever to the e-picture book thing. It's kind of like my college film teacher told us: Yes, you can watch movies on your tiny iPods and phones now, but really how much can you enjoy the artistry by watching a tiny picture? Big screens are the only way to watch movies. That's pretty much how I feel about some of my favorite picture books. Yes, you can view them on your computer, but is it the same as seeing the full-size illustrations in all their glory? Definitely not.

And yet, I still want a Kindle. And yes, I want a Kindle, not any ereader. I'm picky like that. :) Mostly because I do have some ebooks and I just don't do well with reading them on a computer screen. And I like the idea of loading up on device with lots of book to take on trips, especially with the weight limits airlines have these days.

Still, regular books are the bomb. And in my opinion, nothing's ever going to change that.

7 comments:

ReaganStar said...

i Agree completely here I am not a personal fan of ereaders or ebooks, I will take the good old regular printed book any day.

Liana said...

Who says you can't have the best of both worlds! I think it's the best to have a choice between e-books and paper books. That's just more books to read. You can choose to take 100 of your fave books on the go or just that one special book with you in the nice hardback edition. I like it.

LunaMoth said...

i have a kindle and love it. its far easier on my eyes, i still love regular books and own them (i get in paper what i cant get on kindle) i like my mix of the two, i like that im saving trees with the kindle as well.

Orchid said...

I couldn't agree more with you, I absolutely love reading actual books. Plus I really enjoy going to my shelf and randomly grabbing something to read.

Lisa Schensted said...

i totally fall on both sides with this one. i have a Nook and LOVE it, and i still buy paper books every now and again. i am with you on loving to flip back to certain passages, which is what i do with my print books. if i REALLY love a book, i buy it in print.

i also feel like the rise of ereaders has given more flexibility and variety to what we read. maybe people are more willing to try something that won't "take up space on the shelf"?

and i am ALL for the small/indie bookstores. so that's cool to hear.

thanks for sharing your thoughts and the article!

Unknown said...

Totally true! I have a Nook - and while I love that I can carry 20+ books around without doing major arm workouts, I still love going to bookstores and libraries to see all the pretty covers face-to-face - the eReaders skip over the covers, and I think that's part of the fun! :)

Josette said...

I love my Kindle and I love reading e-books on it. But it does not mean that I'll abandon real books that I can hold and smell! :) The Kindle is just another way for me to enjoy reading and also to buy books (e-books) at cheaper prices.

As for movies, I do prefer to watch them on TV and not on iPods. They're just too small! It'll be hard to even see anything. :/