3 ms·

Despite having read hundreds of books in my life, I've failed to discover the sacred connection between me and the physical book that some avid readers like to

Despite having read hundreds of books in my life, I've failed to discover the sacred connection between me and the physical book that some avid readers like to ramble about. Sure, some books are nice. Some are even more comfortable to use (books with lots of images or diagrams) than ebooks. Sometimes the typography is really something. But they're still ink-covered dead trees, they take up lots of space, weigh tens or hundreds of kilograms, are a pain to move between apartments, are an even bigger pain to pack for a vacation. High resolution e-ink displays are just as nice to look at, and ebooks are much easier to self-publish without all the middlemen. It's sad to see the bookstore go as an interesting kind of place, but I won't miss books at all.

ghaff 6y ago
Ebooks work better for some things, less well for others. I don't wholly disagree with your overall sentiment though. I find there's a certain fetishization of even cheap paperbacks, rather than their content, that I don't buy into. There are certainly some types of books that lend themselves better to print than tablet and some that are designed to be art in their own right. But, for reading a novel, I'd rather use an ebook reader for the most part.
MivLives 6y ago
I do most of my reading via ebook these days. Physical books are reserved for either things that either can't be read as well in ebook form (House of Leaves, S.), comics (someday we'll get color eink), things picked up third hand for a dollar, or books I'd like to be able to lend. My family rejoiced when we no one longer packed a suitcase of just books for the beach. But there's still something about bookstores, and the ability to browse that is wholely unique. The experience on Amazon, or where ever else just isn't the same. It's too overwhelming, and the tiny pictures and titles aren't as good for quick browsing. If I know what I want the experience of a book store is much worse.
calyth2018 6y ago
I find that ebooks are ok for paperback, anything not particularly technical. I'd want to gouge my eyes out whenever I try to read code examples on an ebook reader. It either messes with the formatting, or shrunk the font down to retain the examples. And of course, art books are generally no go for ebooks.

ghaff 6y ago

Ebooks work better for some things, less well for others. I don't wholly disagree with your overall sentiment though. I find there's a certain fetishization of even cheap paperbacks, rather than their content, that I don't buy into. There are certainly some types of books that lend themselves better to print than tablet and some that are designed to be art in their own right. But, for reading a novel, I'd rather use an ebook reader for the most part.

MivLives 6y ago

I do most of my reading via ebook these days. Physical books are reserved for either things that either can't be read as well in ebook form (House of Leaves, S.), comics (someday we'll get color eink), things picked up third hand for a dollar, or books I'd like to be able to lend. My family rejoiced when we no one longer packed a suitcase of just books for the beach. But there's still something about bookstores, and the ability to browse that is wholely unique. The experience on Amazon, or where ever else just isn't the same. It's too overwhelming, and the tiny pictures and titles aren't as good for quick browsing. If I know what I want the experience of a book store is much worse.

calyth2018 6y ago

I find that ebooks are ok for paperback, anything not particularly technical. I'd want to gouge my eyes out whenever I try to read code examples on an ebook reader. It either messes with the formatting, or shrunk the font down to retain the examples. And of course, art books are generally no go for ebooks.