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> Anyone else remember less from reading an ebook compared to a physical one? [...] But in a physical book, I often remember that a phrase was at the top or mid
by kerkeslager 3y ago
> Anyone else remember less from reading an ebook compared to a physical one? [...] But in a physical book, I often remember that a phrase was at the top or middle or left side of a page, or that I was sitting in a particular chair when I read it.
This seems weird to me. Does your ebook reader not have a "page" concept? I read China Mieville's Kraken on a Rakuten Kobo about 6 months ago and I distinctly remember the layout of the page where the protagonist does something that shows the culmination of his personal growth throughout the novel, or the page where you find out who is burning the past and why. I also remember distinctly where I was sitting when I read both of those passages.
The biggest difference between the eBook and physical book experiences for me is the smell--I miss the smell of the binding glue when cracking open a new book, or the pleasantly-stale paper smell of an old library book. I'm not saying that the eBook and physical book experiences are equivalent at all. I'm just saying the specific examples you're pointing out seem odd to me.
I'm also highly skeptical of the observations that come from a mind perceiving itself; one of the most striking takeaways from all the neuroscience I've read in the past few decades is that a lot of previous philosophy and psychology theory on how the brain works based on self-perception is blatantly just wrong.
- giraffe_lady 3y agoWhen I remember passages from books I definitely recall whether it was on the left or right leaf, top or bottom or center, and roughly how far through the book it was. If I read it on an e-reader I may have some recall of the vertical positioning but nothing else. I can take a book from a shelf that I only read once years ago and find a specific passage in a minute or two using this approach. For an ebook I have to try to remember a phrase and search for it, which doesn't always work if I remember just the physicality and sense of it, but not the specific phrasing.
- nescioquid 3y agoFor me, the biggest difference between print and ebooks are: - I just won't carry around some door-stopper printed books, so I am less likely to read them in printed editions. - So much of what I want to read isn't in print anymore. I am in the habit of writing in the margins of print editions as I read, but I haven't started doing this for ebooks. One sometimes remembers the place on the page and page in the book, the smell, the tactile experience, but I can't regard these as real criticisms of ebooks or true benefits of printed editions. In my experience, having a digital copy of the book is, often enough, the difference between reading it and not reading it.
- egypturnash 3y agoIf you're using multiple devices to read a book, physical memory goes right out the window. The location of a phrase on your phone screen is very unlikely to correspond with its location on a tablet screen. It gets even worse if you change the font size depending on your situation.
- kayodelycaon 3y agoI think it depends on what you remember. For me, I tend to remember how far into a book something is (my kindle always shows the percentage completed) and what keywords I can search for. Remembering what a page looks like is actually more difficult for me. As a result, I generally have an easier time locating things in digital books. I'll occasionally read a physical book and then start looking for the search button... tap words, pinch to zoom... etc. I get really irritated when I realize I can't change the font. XD
- LtWorf 3y agoI guess they reflow as a single long string?