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Every person I know prefers reading manuals in paper book form. Unfortunately with the computer taking over and with price gouging on books has more or less fo

Every person I know prefers reading manuals in paper book form. Unfortunately with the computer taking over and with price gouging on books has more or less forced the majority to "put up with" reading on screen. The system has failed us in not providing on the "promise" of localised (where you live) instant printing and delivery of cheap books from online. In my view we have essentially gone backwards because of the advancement of technology.

leggomylibro 9y ago
Isn't that what Fedex/Kinko's/etc sort of stores do? Printing, organizing, presentation, that sort of thing? Cities tend to have a number of small businesses along those lines, too. Beyond printing, they can usually do different kinds of simple bindings, although it's not quite up to the level of quality you'd see in a glued codex like this post. I've also had good luck with libraries, for things like spine repair and binding advice. Larger branches will probably even have their own equipment for book-binding sitting around somewhere.
agumonkey 9y ago
Even with a nice silent tablet, reading PDFs feels different than reading a book. Very weird
- hoppa_liza 9y ago
  For me, the missing tactile feedback from the tablet puts me off. I need to feel the edge of the papers, and one side of the book getting thinner and the other thicker as I progress. The very act of splitting the book open is satisfying. I say that and I am a very tech-inclined person, so to speak. But books are always a different matter.
  - agumonkey 9y ago
    I've basically reported the same as you, and I too am (was?) very technical, trying to optimize and thinking that tablets were a super set of books. The edge has a deep link to my memory, scanning with my thumb is more satisfying than having instant full text fuzzy search, which is paradoxical since search is more powerful. I ended up thinking that we do need physical stimuli. A lot. And that our brain likes to reflect from physical to ideal, if we skip a step, we deprive/depress the system. It will work but less so than having a right blend of physical then ideal brain stimulation. Also, books doesn't distract, a tablet is a book reader, and 120 other things, including a gateway to internet which is a known addiction now, so for some, there's always a slight effort to make when reading a book that is not already captivating enough or difficult at times. Dead trees are passive things, and you have no other option than to focus all your mind to them.
    - dvfjsdhgfv 9y ago
      > I ended up thinking that we do need physical stimuli. A lot. And that our brain likes to reflect from physical to ideal, if we skip a step, we deprive/depress the system. It will work but less so than having a right blend of physical then ideal brain stimulation. This. It's especially evident when you're trying to learn: a physical book gives you more sensations to associate with. Taping on a small kindle screen gives you a much less varied experience.
megaman22 9y ago
The only thing that comes close to the experience of a real book is my 13" e-ink reader. I spent way too much money on it, but it is pretty fantastic for reading technical and non-fiction books. I can get by on a phone or a standard sized Kindle with fiction, but the bigger form factor is just so much nicer, especially for anything that has maps, or tables, or code listings.
- bruceb 9y ago
  I have been looking in to this. I actually posted a question on why the cost of larger e-ink readers is so much higher than equivalent tablets: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15787026 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15787026 Which one do you have?
  - megaman22 9y ago
    I got this one https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/13-3-android-e-reader#/ https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/13-3-android-e-reader#/ I'm not sure if they're even taking orders anymore; I sort of had to whine and send them a few emails to get them to get it shipped out to me when their order from the manufacturer came in. But that aside, it's pretty decent piece of kit, I can actually read PDFs on it, the stylus and note-taking app actually work really well. I have to side-load an older version of the Kindle app, which is kind of irritating, but manageable.

leggomylibro 9y ago

Isn't that what Fedex/Kinko's/etc sort of stores do? Printing, organizing, presentation, that sort of thing? Cities tend to have a number of small businesses along those lines, too. Beyond printing, they can usually do different kinds of simple bindings, although it's not quite up to the level of quality you'd see in a glued codex like this post. I've also had good luck with libraries, for things like spine repair and binding advice. Larger branches will probably even have their own equipment for book-binding sitting around somewhere.

agumonkey 9y ago

Even with a nice silent tablet, reading PDFs feels different than reading a book. Very weird

hoppa_liza 9y ago
For me, the missing tactile feedback from the tablet puts me off. I need to feel the edge of the papers, and one side of the book getting thinner and the other thicker as I progress. The very act of splitting the book open is satisfying. I say that and I am a very tech-inclined person, so to speak. But books are always a different matter.
- agumonkey 9y ago
  I've basically reported the same as you, and I too am (was?) very technical, trying to optimize and thinking that tablets were a super set of books. The edge has a deep link to my memory, scanning with my thumb is more satisfying than having instant full text fuzzy search, which is paradoxical since search is more powerful. I ended up thinking that we do need physical stimuli. A lot. And that our brain likes to reflect from physical to ideal, if we skip a step, we deprive/depress the system. It will work but less so than having a right blend of physical then ideal brain stimulation. Also, books doesn't distract, a tablet is a book reader, and 120 other things, including a gateway to internet which is a known addiction now, so for some, there's always a slight effort to make when reading a book that is not already captivating enough or difficult at times. Dead trees are passive things, and you have no other option than to focus all your mind to them.
  - dvfjsdhgfv 9y ago
    > I ended up thinking that we do need physical stimuli. A lot. And that our brain likes to reflect from physical to ideal, if we skip a step, we deprive/depress the system. It will work but less so than having a right blend of physical then ideal brain stimulation. This. It's especially evident when you're trying to learn: a physical book gives you more sensations to associate with. Taping on a small kindle screen gives you a much less varied experience.

megaman22 9y ago

The only thing that comes close to the experience of a real book is my 13" e-ink reader. I spent way too much money on it, but it is pretty fantastic for reading technical and non-fiction books. I can get by on a phone or a standard sized Kindle with fiction, but the bigger form factor is just so much nicer, especially for anything that has maps, or tables, or code listings.

bruceb 9y ago
I have been looking in to this. I actually posted a question on why the cost of larger e-ink readers is so much higher than equivalent tablets: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15787026 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15787026 Which one do you have?
- megaman22 9y ago
  I got this one https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/13-3-android-e-reader#/ https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/13-3-android-e-reader#/ I'm not sure if they're even taking orders anymore; I sort of had to whine and send them a few emails to get them to get it shipped out to me when their order from the manufacturer came in. But that aside, it's pretty decent piece of kit, I can actually read PDFs on it, the stylus and note-taking app actually work really well. I have to side-load an older version of the Kindle app, which is kind of irritating, but manageable.