The list continues. You can underline passages in a book. For the haters out there, don’t give me any crap about “oh well on the Nook book and Kindle you can underline passages and even highlight them too.” Well isn’t that nice? But it is not the same. I will admit, you electronic lovers, that it is nice to be able to click on what you underlined and go immediately there, instead of flipping through your book, not finding the specific passage, so then you resort to turning page after page to find it — cursing that you didn’t dog-ear the dang page. Electronic lovers, you have not won the battle yet. For it is actually a good thing to turn over all those pages because while you monotonously turn each page you can stumble upon other passages that you love.
An even lamer feature on e-readers is that they often have access to the internet. Well you know what? The internet is addicting. When is the last time you logged onto your computer and didn’t check Facebook or your email first? Never. I’m trying to read a dang book. Why would I want stupid things like technology distracting me? Exactly, I wouldn’t!
Real books are not fragile. Why is that relevant, you may ask? Well first of all, I am a passionate reader. I actually delve into the characters I read and immerse myself into their story. So if something happens to them, or the story takes a turn that infuriates me, for instance, last two chapters of Mockingjay — come on now, Suzanne Collins, did you die and have someone else finish your story? — then I can throw my book down in a fit of rage. Nook book would shatter into a million pieces and then start sparking and making weird noises and eventually probably burst into flames. Not cool, Nook book, not cool.
Here’s another scenario: Let’s say I own a Kindle. So I just read this amazing book, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It is imperative that I give it to all my friends to read. Oh wait, I can only share the book with one friend, and oh, guess what, you have 14 days to read it, or poof — sucks for you, the book is gone.
Article comments
1 - livnat
I agree with every word, but still holds a kindle for any case
2 - robert
Exactly. I also hate the way media keeps plugging on that everyone wants e-readers and they are now selling more than paperbacks. There is a reason and it's not popularity. It's because a huge multinational came in, bought out all the local book stores (or put out of business) then went belly up (yes boarders- curse you) leaving no book stores to replace them. Basically forcing people to go onto e-readers.
3 - Rhawkz
I saw this woman do a talk on -ebooks, she raised two points that I found slightly disgraceful for a writer to put forth. 1: She said that e-readers do their best to make the experience much like reading a physical book. To that I say: Why not just read a physical book? The second point was: it gets rid of cluttered bookshelves. To that I say: That's the best part!
4 - Michael
I too prefer paper books for two main reasons; the physical gratification (like when you buy a cd or vinyl you get the cool booklets etc) and because the price of e-books are still the same as a regular paperback/hardcover. That means not only do you have to pay 100-200 bucks for the hardware but you still have to pay full price for content that doesn't even take up physical space or cost anything to reproduce.
Imagine having to buy a $200,000 Ferrari with cloth seats being standard config. Like WHAT?! Why should I pay further premium for a product that IS premium.
Often I find the E version of books to contain a lot of errors that make the read annoying (repeated pages, poor formatting etc). E books are a cool idea but in practice it has proven far less enjoyable than just owning the real thing in my case. One can argue the portability factor but ask yourself...even if you do travel a lot, how many books are you ACTUALLY gonna read? That's right, just enough for the layover and transportation. You aren't gonna visit France and stay in your hotel reading all day, unless you're THAT disconnected and lame.
5 - Rachael
I was looking forward to reading an argument on why Paper books are great from you but your argument held nothing substantial to me. Look at e-books vs real books.
Counter argument?
Also, Thanks for giving me a good source to use for my paper on why the argument for Electronic books is stronger than those who argue against them though!
6 - Igor
To each his own. After a lifetime of reading and collecting thousands of books I finally bailed out and went too a PDA reader. And now I'm converting to audiobooks.
Everything in it's time, and everything in it's place.
7 - Ann Fowler
Real books are better than e-books. E-books can't beat the feeling of having your favorite book in your hands.
8 - Graham
I travel a lot so the appeal of ebooks should be obvious to me, but I just can't commit to them. Last time I travelled I took a small shelf of real books, and the joy of reading one, putting it away then helping myself to another can never be replicated by my kindle. I also grow deeply annoyed when I spot the frequent typos in ebooks; as someone said they are not that much cheaper than real books anyway, so why should I spend £6 on an ebook only to have wordsjoinedup and distracting formatting? I wish I could love ebooks for my own convenience, but I don't just read to get the text, there's also a sensory pleasure that only real books can provide.
9 - richard philip
personally since i have not read the article above i have nothing to say. i will finish of this comment by saying
with a grain of salt. beyotch
10 - richard philip
i hate my life