5 ms·

While I still use my Kindle for travel, I've actually purchased more hardcover books SINCE I got a Kindle, then I have at any other point in my life. Using the

While I still use my Kindle for travel, I've actually purchased more hardcover books SINCE I got a Kindle, then I have at any other point in my life. Using the Kindle, just gave me even more appreciation for the experience of holding a book, flipping the pages, the smell, that whole tactile experience that is just missing otherwise. I'm also making a serious attempt to distance myself from technology for at least part of the day. Smartphones have essentially taking over my life, and I'm actively removing myself from that as well.

panzagl 10y ago
If the tactile experience means that much I'd think you'd be too pissed to read anything from the past 40 years or so except from small specialist publishers. Even hardbacks now are mostly cheaply made disposable products, with whatever money that goes into their production apparently wasted on the dust jacket.
- overcast 10y ago
  I buy a lot from Folio Society ;)
  - panzagl 10y ago
    That would do it then. I read a lot of history and it seems like the only books I keep anymore are either digital or were published last century.
emodendroket 10y ago
I have the opposite experience. I read a lot on the train and I read a lot of books on the Kindle I probably would have avoided before because they seemed so large that I didn't want to carry them or they just seemed imposing. I also find reading for extended periods on the Kindle far more comfortable. The only thing I don't prefer it for is books where I know I'll be flipping back and forth a lot (textbooks, reference manuals, etc.).
- overcast 10y ago
  Again, for the travel convenience, the Kindle is great. I fortunately do not spend long periods of time on a train. My reading is at home, in silence.
  - libria 10y ago
    Even at home, I prefer the ergonomics of holding a pad that's flat open. Paperbacks - new ones especially - require pressure to keep open, usually a thumb/pinky grip. Often the words nearer the spine are read at an angle and with less light. Kindle is more evenly lit and more comfortable to hold. As mentioned above, it's great for linear reading e.g. fiction; poor for computer books.
    - problems 10y ago
      In my experience desktop PDF readers are better than paper for technical books - maybe there are good tablet readers for them too, but they'll allow you to jump directly to sections and make bookmarks in an instant rather than searching through random physical pages and holding your finger in different spots. Displaying the full tree of the book's index while you read through interesting sections is incredibly valuable. I find it hard to read any technical book on something other than the computer I'm using it on though. Without being able to copy and paste to try things out on my own I tend to learn absolutely nothing.
    - overcast 10y ago
      Good reason I don't read paperbacks :)
  - emodendroket 10y ago
    Even without the travel aspect, I just find I'm way less likely to avoid a book because "it's too long to start now." Also having the book in my hot little hands almost instantly is another thing that encourages more reading (although also forking more money over to Amazon).

panzagl 10y ago

If the tactile experience means that much I'd think you'd be too pissed to read anything from the past 40 years or so except from small specialist publishers. Even hardbacks now are mostly cheaply made disposable products, with whatever money that goes into their production apparently wasted on the dust jacket.

overcast 10y ago
I buy a lot from Folio Society ;)
- panzagl 10y ago
  That would do it then. I read a lot of history and it seems like the only books I keep anymore are either digital or were published last century.

emodendroket 10y ago

I have the opposite experience. I read a lot on the train and I read a lot of books on the Kindle I probably would have avoided before because they seemed so large that I didn't want to carry them or they just seemed imposing. I also find reading for extended periods on the Kindle far more comfortable. The only thing I don't prefer it for is books where I know I'll be flipping back and forth a lot (textbooks, reference manuals, etc.).

overcast 10y ago
Again, for the travel convenience, the Kindle is great. I fortunately do not spend long periods of time on a train. My reading is at home, in silence.
- libria 10y ago
  Even at home, I prefer the ergonomics of holding a pad that's flat open. Paperbacks - new ones especially - require pressure to keep open, usually a thumb/pinky grip. Often the words nearer the spine are read at an angle and with less light. Kindle is more evenly lit and more comfortable to hold. As mentioned above, it's great for linear reading e.g. fiction; poor for computer books.
  - problems 10y ago
    In my experience desktop PDF readers are better than paper for technical books - maybe there are good tablet readers for them too, but they'll allow you to jump directly to sections and make bookmarks in an instant rather than searching through random physical pages and holding your finger in different spots. Displaying the full tree of the book's index while you read through interesting sections is incredibly valuable. I find it hard to read any technical book on something other than the computer I'm using it on though. Without being able to copy and paste to try things out on my own I tend to learn absolutely nothing.
  - overcast 10y ago
    Good reason I don't read paperbacks :)
- emodendroket 10y ago
  Even without the travel aspect, I just find I'm way less likely to avoid a book because "it's too long to start now." Also having the book in my hot little hands almost instantly is another thing that encourages more reading (although also forking more money over to Amazon).