Almost entirely digital now. As for why:
- backlight
- font size adjustment
- built in dictionary
- local library closed for a few years
- lighter/better form factor than most books I read
I find I buy far more books now that I have an e-ink reader.
I go to the library because my city spends an insane amount of money on our libraries, so they’re actually far superior to book stores.
You can do both physical and ebooks at the library
I’ve cleverly managed to avoid the original question! 😈
But I mostly read physical books
Almost always digital on my tablet or phone these days (I have a Kindle too but just can’t get used to the display), but I’ll buy physical copies to keep and/or give away if I really like them.
With a large form factor phone in my pocket, I have access to millions of books right away. When I’m not reading an ebook I’m probably listening to the audio version instead, because I need my hands and/or eyes for something else.
I pirate digital books, because I don’t want to spend the money. I buy physical books so that I can resell them.
I am almost the same, but I don’t sell my physical books.
Yes, because I like reading.
But seriously, ebooks… maybe 8.5 times out of 10. E-ink screens are amazing and just as good as paper, but having your books also available on your phone, and thus always in your pocket, is transformative. So, digital on a platform that syncs between devices. (Bonus points for accomplishing this with an open-source app.)
Do you have any app that you suggest and any store where to actually download the file? Right now I buy physical — I love the feeling of paper — but it’s annoying that I can’t read when outside
I love the Moon+ Reader app. Tons of features. I like that it has a dark mode and you can set the brightness very very low (on OLED) so reading in the dark at night is comfortable.
I think it’s not available for iOS
Not OP but KOReader. It’s an open source e-reader software which runs practically everywhere, even the low-end Kobos. Tons of features. Good UX. Seemless integration to popular hardwares.
No, I download ebooks (except for The Knowledge, which is physical else it would be useless if I was in a situation to need it), as they have numerous benefits such as text searching, coming back to where I left off, customising how it looks, available anywhere and much lighter.
I aquire thrm digitally… In the high seas.
Recently purchased a high class ebook reader and had to return it. The display technology simply doesn’t match paper yet.
As far as the pure reading experience goes paper is better. Also less distractions and no blue light that keeps you awake late at night. Printed books take up physical space which is a negative for me.
But digital has the advantage when it comes to working with the text: quickly being able to search for strings, copy and paste whole passages, get translations or pronunciations, reorder pages, etc. Plus all the meta data and library management.
Libraries are in a weird space betwixt when it comes to digital versions btw. They give you a digital text but lock you into a specific app that denies the advantages of the digital format mentioned above.
That being said stuff like blog posts, online articles, social media, etc simply doesn’t exist on paper. But for anything I read for pure enjoyment like literature paper is the way to go.
Lastly, in my experience electronic versions tend to be a bit cheaper than paperbacks but a lot less so than you expect. But a library card pays off after borrowing even a single book, so there’s that 🤷♂️.
E-books, because they’re cheaper and I don’t have enough bookshelf space. Plus I use the library for physical books.
Digital if it’s for a quick reference here and there, physical if I want to read the whole thing and enjoy it.
Same here. Reference, particularly sheet music and cooking recipes work fine for me digitally.
I can sit at the computer and read social/news media for hours with no problem, but the way ebooks are displayed tires my eyes very quickly for some reason.
While I don’t have this issue with the e-ink/e-paper stuff, I’ve never owned one. I also appreciate that physical books are often much harder to damage and will work without electricity.
I go through spurts of reading, and I had been putting off ebooks because I like to own the physical books and have them fill up a shelf etc.
I recently got a Kobo and it’s been amazing. Definitely been reading more, and as others have mentioned, it’s so great when travelling. I’ve got a little camera sling bag that I carry when travelling, and it just manages to fit in there so I can have a quick read when I’m waiting for something/got some down time etc.
I’ve never heard of kobo, just looked it up. So it’s a kindle paper white competitor essentially?
Yeah, essentially.
Obviously made by different companies, Kindle - Amazon, Kobo - Rakuten (A Japanese multinational).
When I was doing my research on what to buy, I was weighing up between the Kindle Paperwhite vs Kobo Clara 2e.
I think most people say that the Kindle has a better selection of books available in their store (though I’ve only had one book I couldn’t find for the Kobo, but I solved that issue by purchasing it while in a different region), and the Kindle is Larger. The Kindle also has a top screen layer than makes it flush with the body.
In the end I went into a physical store to have a look at both of them, and went with the kobo, mainly due to how I preferred the smaller size.
edit - oh and just remembered as I read another comment in this thread, Kobo is compatible with Libby, which is what is used to “borrow” ebooks from your local library (I believe in most places around the world?, not too sure on that), while Kindle is not. Though I havent used it yet, as when I went looking for a few books I wanted to read, they had already been checked out by other users, and there was a waiting list for them.
The Libby functionality alone might be enough to get me onboard tbh
Yeah, though I haven’t used it yet, it’s good to know it’s right there when I want it.
Physical because I write in my books, it keeps me more engaged in the reading process. I also like having them on my shelf and ready to share with a friend or colleague.
I love buying used books that someone has written in the margins. It’s about the only reason I’ll buy a physical book these days.
I’ve tried digital books, but I’ve found that physical books work much better for my brain. I retain more information and can “get lost” in the story, whereas, for some inexplicable reason, digital books being read on a screen kind of “flatten” a story for me. It’s almost like a 3d vs 2d experience for me.
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I have! But unfortunately, I had the same result as if it were my phone/tablet. I really wish I understood why it was like this for me so I could maybe work on it, but I guess I’m just one of those “need-to-physically-turn-the-page” people :/
No this totally makes sense to me.
It doesn’t impact my experience of the story, but there is something to having the next page hidden behind the turn and knowing that it’s right there. When I read an ebook it’s like reading an article. The sensation is different and it loses a touch of excitement without that tactile feeling of ‘the next page’. Pages don’t matter in ebooks either. You adjust the text size and the ‘page’ count is suddenly radically different. I measure my progress in chapters or percentages now.
It makes sense to me why that wouldn’t work for some folks.
Physical books, all the way. I’m a techie, through and through – I’m a computer programmer by trade, and as soon as I can convince these stupid smart bulbs to work with Home Assistant I’m very excited to have a smart home – but I’ll take a physical book over a digital one any day of the week. If I must read something on a computer, I pirate it. Physical books are easier on the eyes (and e-ink displays, though they’ve made massive strides over the last several years, still lag well behind their old-fashioned counterparts in terms of color rendering (and in some cases even black-and-white readability) and are still prohibitively priced), and more importantly, you can’t put DRM on a piece of paper. I’m a huge believer in owning what I buy.
