8 ms·

I went fully digital some years ago, gave away most of my printed books and bought ebooks only. Now I have my whole library in Calibre and on my Kindle. Why? Be

I went fully digital some years ago, gave away most of my printed books and bought ebooks only. Now I have my whole library in Calibre and on my Kindle. Why? Because I have my whole library with me. And I can download my highlights and process them. Into notes in Obsidian, that I can link to in my study notes. Recently I started buying paper based books again. Man, I missed holding physical books in my hands. And I start to regret having gotten rid of my physical library. There were so many memories I had with most of these books. I remember their covers, and instantly my emotions , thoughts, feelings are triggered. I don’t have these emotions when I think of my digital books. My spouse has books that she was gifted when she was a child. Still in our kids shelf. I cannot give her my digital books. I regret the decision having gone fully digital, which can only be a complement to physical books. Printed books are a physical experience. Something that allows me to attach thoughts, emotions, feelings to it. And they can become part of my life. Like a good friend.

tikkabhuna 2y ago
I'd love to have bundles where you can get the physical and ebook at the same time. Going on holiday it is ideal to have an ebook reader to carry many books, but, like you say, there is something precious about having books lined up on shelves to see them.
- mistahchris 2y ago
  Yes! A physical book and ebook bundle would be awesome.
mistahchris 2y ago
I did the exact same thing. I'm back to buying real books, but I will say I still use my ereader in situations without good lighting or where the book is just too cumbersome. Sometimes that means I get the book twice which is suboptimal, but I strongly prefer the reading experience of a physical book. My appreciation of the work is even higher when the reading experience is better.
graemep 2y ago
I will not buy DRMed ebooks. I hate the idea that someone can delete a book I bought. Once I have a book, I want to keep it. I have quite a lot of books that belong to be grandfather, and lots that belonged to my parents. A lot of those will last another generation, maybe more. That does not happen with ebooks either.
- galleywest200 2y ago
  It is trivially easy to remove DRM with a plugin for Calibre.
  - protonbob 2y ago
    Not with the latest encryption. Although you can always screenshot and ocr. Or maybe I've missed something new.
    - EA-3167 2y ago
      Unless latest means "In the last few months" then no it's still trivial. I buy a lot of "Kindle" books, but I always rip the DRM and make an ebook version I actually use and archive. My attitude is that once I pay for a song/game/book/etc... it's no one's business, but my own how I use it (for myself I mean, obviously uploading it to others is a different issue).
      - deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
    - goosedragons 2y ago
      For books from Amazon. Still trivial to remove DRM from Kobo, Google Play, any place that uses Adobe DRM.
  - NoboruWataya 2y ago
    I think it's easier with some providers than others. I bought an Amazon ebook that I was really struggling to de-DRM (so I promptly returned it and have only bought books with Adobe DRM since).
fcsp 2y ago
I'm jojoing on this for at least 15 years at this point. I really appreciate the physical experience of real books, the smell, the weight, just as you describe it. At the same time I really despise the storage space they take up, collecting dust, never to be touched again. So I go full digital for a while and read books on my Scribe. I get decision paralysis really quickly because of all the content available at a finger press, but the note taking and accessibility of it all are really nice. But after a while I grow tired of this and buy some hardcover books again and really enjoy that. This cycle has been repeating for me for a long time, I wonder if I'll find a good balance eventually. My current approach is to try and read more technical stuff digital while keeping novels, the humanities, history as paperback, we'll see.
sitkack 2y ago
I understand your pain, we all seem to make dichotomies where none should exist. Getting rid of print books is not a prerequisite for carrying your entire library with you. Why not both meme. Hopefully ebooks will get to the point where they offer a better experience than paper books. But my mind does not handle the information in nearly the same way when using ebooks. I find them wonderfully valuable and productive, but in the same deep introspective way. They are transactional, focused and very task directed.
- watwut 2y ago
  I ebooks better for reading already. Physical books advantage is that I can read inside them in bookstore - bookstores are much better for me when I looking for something new. But I prefer actual reading on the phone.
  - bluGill 2y ago
    Are you reading, or are you studying? When reading my phone is great. When I want to study though I will want to take notes, compare tables on different pages and other such things that my phone doesn't work for.
    - watwut 2y ago
      I actually prefer ebook for both - including for studying. If the book I want to study requires larger screen, I prefer notebook. I never wrote into books, if I am taking notes it is on paper and sometimes electronically (with keyboard). For comparing tables, I prefer laptop.
      - RheingoldRiver 2y ago
        > I actually prefer ebook for both - including for studying. Really?? What ereader do you use? How are you taking notes (that you would be able to retrieve later in a reasonable manner), using the index, etc? I've wanted for years to switch to electronic books for nonfiction that I want to learn from, but software for reading feels so bad for this purpose.
fullstop 2y ago
My wife donated all of her CDs and subsequently started buying the same albums on iTunes. I still don't know why.
- nytesky 2y ago
  That bothers me less, as finding a device to play CD music is very hard and expensive now. Also the CDs will degrade in another decade to worthlessness, unlike books
  - bluGill 2y ago
    Pressed CDs - which most of them are (pressing is much cheaper in quantity) will generally last well. Record able CDs (like you buy from the individual artist won't last much longer. Either way though I have long since ripped my CDs to my NAS system. I keep the CDs in storage so if someone says copyright I can prove fair use as I still own the media.
  - GuestFAUniverse 2y ago
    I have a whole drawer full of barely used cdrom drives from decommissioned office PCs to play my audio discs, in case my Philips Player from 1995 is worn down -- didn't even need a repair yet, so no real worries... Additionally the CDs get backuped as FLACs. I don't see what's "hard" with that approach. Most new releases still get presses as CDs.
- DaiPlusPlus 2y ago
  Was this recently (say, after 2014?) Try finding a computer with an optical drive today. You need to get an external USB device today, modern cases don’t have external 5-inch bays. Another problem is all the music apps and services that we’re supposed to use according to the music industry are streaming services: Spotify doesn’t have a CD-player feature; it wouldn’t surprise me if today’s new-computer-user had no idea that CD-ripping was even possible.
  - fullstop 2y ago
    It was before 2014 and we still had ways of either playing optical content or ripping the media and storing it ourselves.
myko 2y ago
I went this route as well, and I've now repopulated many of my favorite books from my youth in physical editions. I wish more physical books were like Goodman Games where any purchase includes a digital download code. Regretfully, I still prefer generally reading on my Kindle, so I end up buying two copies of the book.
bowsamic 2y ago
The real question is why did you feel the need to be so extreme? Why couldn't you just do a little digital rather than fully? I don't understand this all or nothing stuff. Live moderately
brtkdotse 2y ago
> Now I have my whole library in Calibre and on my Kindle. Funnily enough I’m contemplating buying a MiniDisc player since my music listening has gone way down since Spotify came along. Its like the abdunance of selection is overwhelming.
- fsiefken 2y ago
  Yes, I have the same. Why not a simple mp3 player or a portable cd player?
darknavi 2y ago
I really enjoy audio books much more than reading (perhaps it helps me feed my need to "consume", as I can listen to them while doing other, menial things) but I also enjoy buying the same titles and filling out a physical book shelf. I love the visual appraisal of a library a lot more in person than on a screen.
- dowager_dan99 2y ago
  I never got hooked on audio books, even back in the "on tape" days. So slow and I have trouble visualizing and immersing myself in them.
  - darknavi 2y ago
    The narrator absolutely makes or breaks a book. I find my self more often following narrators versus following authors, which is crazy to say. If you want to give a narrator a shot, Ray Porter is super solid. Lots of cool sci-fi books out there that he narrates.
2OEH8eoCRo0 2y ago
Physical has a spatial dimension that digital cannot replicate. Like I can't tell ya what page something is on but I can find it quickly by feel. Something is lost by moving to digital but what? By what metric?
- w00ds 2y ago
  Exactly that which is not amenable to metrics...
zem 2y ago
I'm kind of the opposite, I can't bring myself to let go of my collection of paper books, or even to stop buying a new one every so often, but I do not like the physical experience of reading one nearly as much as I like the experience of reading on a phone or kindle. holding a book in one hand and turning a page with a click is a really wonderful way to read.
- jhbadger 2y ago
  Exactly. I've even gone to the trouble of getting ebooks of physical books that I have in some cases. I vastly prefer the size and weight of an e-reader as compared to most books, plus the ability to change the font size to something I can easier read as opposed to the small fonts often chosen by paper books to minimize pages.
- tsujamin 2y ago
  The standard I arrived at is roughly "would I be sad if, in 15 years, I forgot about this book/piece of music?". If it's something that I enjoyed so much today that I'd be afraid to lose it amongst 10,000's of eBooks or songs on a streaming platform, I physically buy it.
  - snoman 2y ago
    I like this. I do something similar; I ask myself “Am I buying this for the knowledge inside it, or the experience of it?” I buy the latter. Be it a comic book, photography book, or something else. Those are artistic experiences for me.
OJFord 2y ago
> I regret the decision having gone fully digital, which can only be a complement to physical books. I've long thought the purchase of a book should be considered a licence: you pay a little more if you want a physical version too, but they're not separate things; the digital ebook comes free/is the basic way your licence can be exercised. (Ideally licenced people would be allowed to order cheap replacements if they damaged the physical copy, but how would you stop fraudulent sale & continual replacement-ordering.)
globular-toast 2y ago
I read all fiction on my Kobo these days. I used to collect paperbacks but they take up a lot of space, especially if you're getting through 20+ books a year. I basically hoard books on my Kobo so I never don't have another book to read. I do remove the DRM, though. I still want to own books. But paper is still by far the best format for textbooks. It's not even close.
sandworm101 2y ago
I have a library of work-related books (military). Most of the great ones have no digital alternative. Authors of rare or definitive works know to avoid digital formats. Last year I paid 200+ to get my hands on a newly printed book because i know it will still be relevant on my shelf in 10/20/30 years. After reading it once I may leave it on that shelf for years. One day i will need it again. I will know where to find it no matter what OS i will then be using. Things like this cannot be bought digitally, nor would most readers want a digital copy. http://www.hisutton.com/pages/Book%20project.html http://www.hisutton.com/pages/Book%20project.html I cannot champion this guy enough. His website belongs jn the 90s (it needs the "www") but his skills in open source analysis and drawing are unmatched. (He draws in MS paint!) http://www.hisutton.com/ http://www.hisutton.com/ https://youtu.be/PdKkR_lbLN0 https://youtu.be/PdKkR_lbLN0
dowager_dan99 2y ago
I just love the experience of reading a paper book, especially in trade paperback - which is weird because it's not a great format, but something about the dimensions (as long as the book isn't too long), and the cover and the feel and the paper...
jjice 2y ago
I love a paper back, but man did I fall in love with ebooks in the last year and a half. I own a Kindle and a Kobo and it's just so incredible for traveling (instead of carrying two books in my backpack) and in bed (the screen backlights are just fantastic). I absolutely buy certain books physical still, if they're of a certain quality or meaning to me. If Martin Fowler released a new book tomorrow, I'd get it physical. Hell, I might even buy a physical and digital copy. That said, digital is now my default way to read a book.
NoboruWataya 2y ago
And let's be honest, a good book collection is a great addition to a room, aesthetically. People tend not to talk about that aspect, I think they worry about being seen as pretentious showing off their books. But I think a book collection can be a great decoration, just as flowers or a painting can be. And if you have family or friends over and one of them sees something they like, you can lend it to them there and then (if you are so inclined). Some of my earliest reading-related memories are being in an uncle's or neighbour's house and being fascinated by a book on a shelf that they kindly let me take home to read.
- djhn 2y ago
  And they improve room acoustics a decent amount, making the space that much more pleasant.
  - Obscurity4340 2y ago
    Are books like a natural version of those fancy futuristic sound panels in recording studios?
    - bongodongobob 2y ago
      Yeah, diffusers. Smears first reflection time. Probably some low end absorbtion too.
      - freehorse 2y ago
        That would require quite a lot of books.
        bongodongobob 2y ago
        What would? A bookshelf is literally a diffuser and bass traps are all about mass.
- knighthack 2y ago
Al-Khwarizmi 2y ago
I'm an avid reader. But about maybe 15 years ago, I stopped buying printed books because I felt guilty - they took up too much space, and it was running scarce. And surely ebooks were superior - no space wasted, I could take an entire library with me, etc. It was just a matter of getting used to them, and abandoning the impractical romanticism of fetishizing the printed page. At that time, I pretty much stopped reading. Now it's obvious why that happened, but at that point I didn't really connect the dots. I thought that I ran into a bad streak of books that just didn't hook me much, and then I was very busy, I always seemed to have something else to do rather than continue reading. So for those hypothetical reasons I went from reading several books per month to one per year, or even less. At some point, I read a printed book and it hooked me like in the old times. And then, it dawned on me that the books being bad, or me being busy, were just excuses. The real reason is that I didn't like electronic reading. I wasn't proud of this. It wasn't a rational attitude. Electronic reading was clearly superior (less space, more flexibility and so on), and the content was exactly the same. I was actually quite ashamed of myself: was I such a shallow person that I didn't appreciate the contents of the literature enough to abstract away from purely materialistic concerns? What kind of person can't appreciate culture or art just because they don't like the medium used to transmit it? But be that as it may, the plain truth was that ebooks didn't hook me, and physical books did, so I admitted it and started buying printed books again. And once again, I'm an avid reader. In the last few years, papers and studies have started to appear saying that with paper reading we retain more, we concentrate more, we learn more, etc... so I have started to reconcile with myself. Maybe I'm not a shallow materialistic asshole after all, and it's just human nature.
- the_af 2y ago
  It's weird, but I find myself abandoning ebooks much easier than printed books. It's actually very rare that I abandon a printed book, but very common that I put off finishing an ebook. I wonder why. What you say rings true. As silly as it sounds, my emotional connection to ebooks is somehow weaker.
jihadjihad 2y ago
This sentiment reminds me of an excellent short essay I read in Harper’s a few years back, called “Living Animals.” https://harpers.org/archive/2018/10/living-animals/ https://harpers.org/archive/2018/10/living-animals/
dbtc 2y ago
I can relate! A well-bound book is such a perfectly designed thing. A few books on my shelf were printed over 100 years ago, they have a very special weight to them. Ebooks are also a miracle; a literal library on a microsd is mind-bogglingly amazing. If I had to choose... I would choose both.
gunian 2y ago
what do you feel about the inability to move easily with a large library? ebooks + printer seems like a nice compromise but kind of moot if you are settled in life are not a desperado nomad of sorts
deegles 2y ago
you could learn bookbinding and print out your annotated books. i feel like it would be a nice hobby.
ccppurcell 2y ago
I got rid of all novels and pop science books. They are fine to read on a kindle and rarely re-read. My physical books are textbooks and reference books (dictionaries, atlases). I am a mathematician and I used to get a ton of mileage out of Google for research. I got really good at working out likely phrases other researchers would use for concepts that I encountered, and using Boolean operators to filter out pages with similar keywords. I think those days are over sadly. I think we will see a resurgence of personal libraries.
coffeebeqn 2y ago
It’s also a great practice if you actually wish to own the things you purchase. Same with things like music, movies, games. If it’s just on a cloud platform it will disappear one day.
vishnugupta 2y ago
For similar reasons I went back to physical books. To add an additional change I noticed. Before I used to be big on reading as much as possible, remember everything. I’d get anxious if I forgot some details. But now that’s all gone. I’ve learned to slowdown. I enjoy the books more and don’t worry too much about finishing it or remembering everything. I’m now deliberate about building my library. If I forget something I don’t sweat, if it comes back it comes back. It could also have to do with age and COVID induced reprioritisation; either way I’m more at peace with where I’m about reading. I don’t think I’ll go back to digits books. And oh now my children and wife know what I’m reading and who knows some shared reading habits could develop.
eleveriven 2y ago
I personally form the sensory and emotional connection with printed books! Holding a book, feeling its weight, and flipping through its pages...
p00dles 2y ago
I like to rent/buy eBooks for the first-time read, and if I like the book, buy the physical version. Few things are more satisfying to me being able to hand a book off of my shelf to a friend when I think that they would like it, and having them report back they read and liked the book.
personalityson 2y ago
Have you ever noticed than even after using screens/computers/phones for 12 hours a day, they almost never appear in your dreams when you sleep?
- apsurd 2y ago
  you just blew my mind
- amonith 2y ago
  There's a "threat simulation theory" that sort of explains it, but it's not 100% correct for everyone. TL;DR: in dreams your brain often seems to practice "threats"/stressful situations. E.g. you're more likely to dream about missing work, having exams, car breaking, running from someone, interacting with someone you care about etc. rather than doing something you're completely used to.
  - wholinator2 2y ago
    I wonder if very small children dream about screens then don't understand. Like, if a poor small child got hit with the car commercial or the maze jump scare, would that get added to the threat list? I'm talking young enough that they can't tell you it's a screen. Do babies dream? What could they ever dream about? Is there a library of set concepts that we're all genetically made to fear, if so, how would that be represented in dreams? Gosh
    - amonith 2y ago
      Honestly probably yes to all of those. Except for small children the dreams are probably also non-visual like in the case of blind people. They probably dream about "weird feelings" (chills, shivers, cold, heat etc) and smells and sounds and whatnot. The TST also assumes that some of the instincts are inherited from our ancestors (e.g. that uneasy feeling when you walk alone through the forest at night - because for thousands of years predators could kill you in that exact scenario) so a baby's brain might dream about those feelings too (probably without visuals, just chemically induced feeling of uneasyness). And back to the screen scenario: To the brain "excitement" is also "stressful" from a chemical PoV. So if you really really enjoyed some game (as a kid or whatnot) you probably dreamt about it too.
dghughes 2y ago
I agree physical books are great since you can hold them, smell them - nothing like an ebook. There is also a big advantage for us middle-aged folks that ebooks have and that's adjustable font size. Bifocal glasses help bit making font bigger is better.
loughnane 2y ago
Same with me. Another part is I didn’t like my kids seeing me staring at a screen all the time, especially when they were young enough to not get the distinction between eink and lcd. What’s worse is id be reading all these books and they’d have no idea, even incidentally, what I was reading. Now we’ve probably got 500-600 books on the house and kids are always pulling out something to read. I still get ebooks sometimes to search for something specific or to feel out a book. I still use my remarkable tablet for papers and things, but my personal library (filled with my personal notes that’ll last my life) is very precious to me.
Cthulhu_ 2y ago
I have some books from my childhood still, and while I'm not really interested in reading them, my parents and others that gave them to me as gifts made sure to write a note of sorts in the cover. It's a great idea, if you give books as gifts. Make sure it's written in the book itself, not a separate (loseable) postcard or something. Add a date and the occasion.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
sizzle 2y ago
How do you find time to read?

tikkabhuna 2y ago

I'd love to have bundles where you can get the physical and ebook at the same time. Going on holiday it is ideal to have an ebook reader to carry many books, but, like you say, there is something precious about having books lined up on shelves to see them.

mistahchris 2y ago
Yes! A physical book and ebook bundle would be awesome.

mistahchris 2y ago

I did the exact same thing. I'm back to buying real books, but I will say I still use my ereader in situations without good lighting or where the book is just too cumbersome. Sometimes that means I get the book twice which is suboptimal, but I strongly prefer the reading experience of a physical book. My appreciation of the work is even higher when the reading experience is better.

graemep 2y ago

I will not buy DRMed ebooks. I hate the idea that someone can delete a book I bought. Once I have a book, I want to keep it. I have quite a lot of books that belong to be grandfather, and lots that belonged to my parents. A lot of those will last another generation, maybe more. That does not happen with ebooks either.

galleywest200 2y ago
It is trivially easy to remove DRM with a plugin for Calibre.
- protonbob 2y ago
  Not with the latest encryption. Although you can always screenshot and ocr. Or maybe I've missed something new.
  - EA-3167 2y ago
    Unless latest means "In the last few months" then no it's still trivial. I buy a lot of "Kindle" books, but I always rip the DRM and make an ebook version I actually use and archive. My attitude is that once I pay for a song/game/book/etc... it's no one's business, but my own how I use it (for myself I mean, obviously uploading it to others is a different issue).
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
  - goosedragons 2y ago
    For books from Amazon. Still trivial to remove DRM from Kobo, Google Play, any place that uses Adobe DRM.
- NoboruWataya 2y ago
  I think it's easier with some providers than others. I bought an Amazon ebook that I was really struggling to de-DRM (so I promptly returned it and have only bought books with Adobe DRM since).

fcsp 2y ago

I'm jojoing on this for at least 15 years at this point. I really appreciate the physical experience of real books, the smell, the weight, just as you describe it. At the same time I really despise the storage space they take up, collecting dust, never to be touched again. So I go full digital for a while and read books on my Scribe. I get decision paralysis really quickly because of all the content available at a finger press, but the note taking and accessibility of it all are really nice. But after a while I grow tired of this and buy some hardcover books again and really enjoy that. This cycle has been repeating for me for a long time, I wonder if I'll find a good balance eventually. My current approach is to try and read more technical stuff digital while keeping novels, the humanities, history as paperback, we'll see.

sitkack 2y ago

I understand your pain, we all seem to make dichotomies where none should exist. Getting rid of print books is not a prerequisite for carrying your entire library with you. Why not both meme. Hopefully ebooks will get to the point where they offer a better experience than paper books. But my mind does not handle the information in nearly the same way when using ebooks. I find them wonderfully valuable and productive, but in the same deep introspective way. They are transactional, focused and very task directed.

watwut 2y ago
I ebooks better for reading already. Physical books advantage is that I can read inside them in bookstore - bookstores are much better for me when I looking for something new. But I prefer actual reading on the phone.
- bluGill 2y ago
  Are you reading, or are you studying? When reading my phone is great. When I want to study though I will want to take notes, compare tables on different pages and other such things that my phone doesn't work for.
  - watwut 2y ago
    I actually prefer ebook for both - including for studying. If the book I want to study requires larger screen, I prefer notebook. I never wrote into books, if I am taking notes it is on paper and sometimes electronically (with keyboard). For comparing tables, I prefer laptop.
    - RheingoldRiver 2y ago
      > I actually prefer ebook for both - including for studying. Really?? What ereader do you use? How are you taking notes (that you would be able to retrieve later in a reasonable manner), using the index, etc? I've wanted for years to switch to electronic books for nonfiction that I want to learn from, but software for reading feels so bad for this purpose.

fullstop 2y ago

My wife donated all of her CDs and subsequently started buying the same albums on iTunes. I still don't know why.

nytesky 2y ago
That bothers me less, as finding a device to play CD music is very hard and expensive now. Also the CDs will degrade in another decade to worthlessness, unlike books
- bluGill 2y ago
  Pressed CDs - which most of them are (pressing is much cheaper in quantity) will generally last well. Record able CDs (like you buy from the individual artist won't last much longer. Either way though I have long since ripped my CDs to my NAS system. I keep the CDs in storage so if someone says copyright I can prove fair use as I still own the media.
- GuestFAUniverse 2y ago
  I have a whole drawer full of barely used cdrom drives from decommissioned office PCs to play my audio discs, in case my Philips Player from 1995 is worn down -- didn't even need a repair yet, so no real worries... Additionally the CDs get backuped as FLACs. I don't see what's "hard" with that approach. Most new releases still get presses as CDs.
DaiPlusPlus 2y ago
Was this recently (say, after 2014?) Try finding a computer with an optical drive today. You need to get an external USB device today, modern cases don’t have external 5-inch bays. Another problem is all the music apps and services that we’re supposed to use according to the music industry are streaming services: Spotify doesn’t have a CD-player feature; it wouldn’t surprise me if today’s new-computer-user had no idea that CD-ripping was even possible.
- fullstop 2y ago
  It was before 2014 and we still had ways of either playing optical content or ripping the media and storing it ourselves.

myko 2y ago

I went this route as well, and I've now repopulated many of my favorite books from my youth in physical editions. I wish more physical books were like Goodman Games where any purchase includes a digital download code. Regretfully, I still prefer generally reading on my Kindle, so I end up buying two copies of the book.

bowsamic 2y ago

The real question is why did you feel the need to be so extreme? Why couldn't you just do a little digital rather than fully? I don't understand this all or nothing stuff. Live moderately

brtkdotse 2y ago

> Now I have my whole library in Calibre and on my Kindle. Funnily enough I’m contemplating buying a MiniDisc player since my music listening has gone way down since Spotify came along. Its like the abdunance of selection is overwhelming.

fsiefken 2y ago
Yes, I have the same. Why not a simple mp3 player or a portable cd player?

darknavi 2y ago

I really enjoy audio books much more than reading (perhaps it helps me feed my need to "consume", as I can listen to them while doing other, menial things) but I also enjoy buying the same titles and filling out a physical book shelf. I love the visual appraisal of a library a lot more in person than on a screen.

dowager_dan99 2y ago
I never got hooked on audio books, even back in the "on tape" days. So slow and I have trouble visualizing and immersing myself in them.
- darknavi 2y ago
  The narrator absolutely makes or breaks a book. I find my self more often following narrators versus following authors, which is crazy to say. If you want to give a narrator a shot, Ray Porter is super solid. Lots of cool sci-fi books out there that he narrates.

2OEH8eoCRo0 2y ago

Physical has a spatial dimension that digital cannot replicate. Like I can't tell ya what page something is on but I can find it quickly by feel. Something is lost by moving to digital but what? By what metric?

w00ds 2y ago
Exactly that which is not amenable to metrics...

zem 2y ago

I'm kind of the opposite, I can't bring myself to let go of my collection of paper books, or even to stop buying a new one every so often, but I do not like the physical experience of reading one nearly as much as I like the experience of reading on a phone or kindle. holding a book in one hand and turning a page with a click is a really wonderful way to read.

jhbadger 2y ago
Exactly. I've even gone to the trouble of getting ebooks of physical books that I have in some cases. I vastly prefer the size and weight of an e-reader as compared to most books, plus the ability to change the font size to something I can easier read as opposed to the small fonts often chosen by paper books to minimize pages.
tsujamin 2y ago
The standard I arrived at is roughly "would I be sad if, in 15 years, I forgot about this book/piece of music?". If it's something that I enjoyed so much today that I'd be afraid to lose it amongst 10,000's of eBooks or songs on a streaming platform, I physically buy it.
- snoman 2y ago
  I like this. I do something similar; I ask myself “Am I buying this for the knowledge inside it, or the experience of it?” I buy the latter. Be it a comic book, photography book, or something else. Those are artistic experiences for me.

OJFord 2y ago

> I regret the decision having gone fully digital, which can only be a complement to physical books. I've long thought the purchase of a book should be considered a licence: you pay a little more if you want a physical version too, but they're not separate things; the digital ebook comes free/is the basic way your licence can be exercised. (Ideally licenced people would be allowed to order cheap replacements if they damaged the physical copy, but how would you stop fraudulent sale & continual replacement-ordering.)

globular-toast 2y ago

I read all fiction on my Kobo these days. I used to collect paperbacks but they take up a lot of space, especially if you're getting through 20+ books a year. I basically hoard books on my Kobo so I never don't have another book to read. I do remove the DRM, though. I still want to own books. But paper is still by far the best format for textbooks. It's not even close.

sandworm101 2y ago

I have a library of work-related books (military). Most of the great ones have no digital alternative. Authors of rare or definitive works know to avoid digital formats. Last year I paid 200+ to get my hands on a newly printed book because i know it will still be relevant on my shelf in 10/20/30 years. After reading it once I may leave it on that shelf for years. One day i will need it again. I will know where to find it no matter what OS i will then be using. Things like this cannot be bought digitally, nor would most readers want a digital copy. http://www.hisutton.com/pages/Book%20project.html http://www.hisutton.com/pages/Book%20project.html I cannot champion this guy enough. His website belongs jn the 90s (it needs the "www") but his skills in open source analysis and drawing are unmatched. (He draws in MS paint!) http://www.hisutton.com/ http://www.hisutton.com/ https://youtu.be/PdKkR_lbLN0 https://youtu.be/PdKkR_lbLN0

dowager_dan99 2y ago

I just love the experience of reading a paper book, especially in trade paperback - which is weird because it's not a great format, but something about the dimensions (as long as the book isn't too long), and the cover and the feel and the paper...

jjice 2y ago

I love a paper back, but man did I fall in love with ebooks in the last year and a half. I own a Kindle and a Kobo and it's just so incredible for traveling (instead of carrying two books in my backpack) and in bed (the screen backlights are just fantastic). I absolutely buy certain books physical still, if they're of a certain quality or meaning to me. If Martin Fowler released a new book tomorrow, I'd get it physical. Hell, I might even buy a physical and digital copy. That said, digital is now my default way to read a book.

NoboruWataya 2y ago

And let's be honest, a good book collection is a great addition to a room, aesthetically. People tend not to talk about that aspect, I think they worry about being seen as pretentious showing off their books. But I think a book collection can be a great decoration, just as flowers or a painting can be. And if you have family or friends over and one of them sees something they like, you can lend it to them there and then (if you are so inclined). Some of my earliest reading-related memories are being in an uncle's or neighbour's house and being fascinated by a book on a shelf that they kindly let me take home to read.

djhn 2y ago
And they improve room acoustics a decent amount, making the space that much more pleasant.
- Obscurity4340 2y ago
  Are books like a natural version of those fancy futuristic sound panels in recording studios?
  - bongodongobob 2y ago
    Yeah, diffusers. Smears first reflection time. Probably some low end absorbtion too.
    - freehorse 2y ago
      That would require quite a lot of books.
      - bongodongobob 2y ago
        What would? A bookshelf is literally a diffuser and bass traps are all about mass.
knighthack 2y ago

Al-Khwarizmi 2y ago

I'm an avid reader. But about maybe 15 years ago, I stopped buying printed books because I felt guilty - they took up too much space, and it was running scarce. And surely ebooks were superior - no space wasted, I could take an entire library with me, etc. It was just a matter of getting used to them, and abandoning the impractical romanticism of fetishizing the printed page. At that time, I pretty much stopped reading. Now it's obvious why that happened, but at that point I didn't really connect the dots. I thought that I ran into a bad streak of books that just didn't hook me much, and then I was very busy, I always seemed to have something else to do rather than continue reading. So for those hypothetical reasons I went from reading several books per month to one per year, or even less. At some point, I read a printed book and it hooked me like in the old times. And then, it dawned on me that the books being bad, or me being busy, were just excuses. The real reason is that I didn't like electronic reading. I wasn't proud of this. It wasn't a rational attitude. Electronic reading was clearly superior (less space, more flexibility and so on), and the content was exactly the same. I was actually quite ashamed of myself: was I such a shallow person that I didn't appreciate the contents of the literature enough to abstract away from purely materialistic concerns? What kind of person can't appreciate culture or art just because they don't like the medium used to transmit it? But be that as it may, the plain truth was that ebooks didn't hook me, and physical books did, so I admitted it and started buying printed books again. And once again, I'm an avid reader. In the last few years, papers and studies have started to appear saying that with paper reading we retain more, we concentrate more, we learn more, etc... so I have started to reconcile with myself. Maybe I'm not a shallow materialistic asshole after all, and it's just human nature.

the_af 2y ago
It's weird, but I find myself abandoning ebooks much easier than printed books. It's actually very rare that I abandon a printed book, but very common that I put off finishing an ebook. I wonder why. What you say rings true. As silly as it sounds, my emotional connection to ebooks is somehow weaker.

jihadjihad 2y ago

This sentiment reminds me of an excellent short essay I read in Harper’s a few years back, called “Living Animals.” https://harpers.org/archive/2018/10/living-animals/ https://harpers.org/archive/2018/10/living-animals/

dbtc 2y ago

I can relate! A well-bound book is such a perfectly designed thing. A few books on my shelf were printed over 100 years ago, they have a very special weight to them. Ebooks are also a miracle; a literal library on a microsd is mind-bogglingly amazing. If I had to choose... I would choose both.

gunian 2y ago

what do you feel about the inability to move easily with a large library? ebooks + printer seems like a nice compromise but kind of moot if you are settled in life are not a desperado nomad of sorts

deegles 2y ago

you could learn bookbinding and print out your annotated books. i feel like it would be a nice hobby.

ccppurcell 2y ago

I got rid of all novels and pop science books. They are fine to read on a kindle and rarely re-read. My physical books are textbooks and reference books (dictionaries, atlases). I am a mathematician and I used to get a ton of mileage out of Google for research. I got really good at working out likely phrases other researchers would use for concepts that I encountered, and using Boolean operators to filter out pages with similar keywords. I think those days are over sadly. I think we will see a resurgence of personal libraries.

coffeebeqn 2y ago

It’s also a great practice if you actually wish to own the things you purchase. Same with things like music, movies, games. If it’s just on a cloud platform it will disappear one day.

vishnugupta 2y ago

For similar reasons I went back to physical books. To add an additional change I noticed. Before I used to be big on reading as much as possible, remember everything. I’d get anxious if I forgot some details. But now that’s all gone. I’ve learned to slowdown. I enjoy the books more and don’t worry too much about finishing it or remembering everything. I’m now deliberate about building my library. If I forget something I don’t sweat, if it comes back it comes back. It could also have to do with age and COVID induced reprioritisation; either way I’m more at peace with where I’m about reading. I don’t think I’ll go back to digits books. And oh now my children and wife know what I’m reading and who knows some shared reading habits could develop.

eleveriven 2y ago

I personally form the sensory and emotional connection with printed books! Holding a book, feeling its weight, and flipping through its pages...

p00dles 2y ago

I like to rent/buy eBooks for the first-time read, and if I like the book, buy the physical version. Few things are more satisfying to me being able to hand a book off of my shelf to a friend when I think that they would like it, and having them report back they read and liked the book.

personalityson 2y ago

Have you ever noticed than even after using screens/computers/phones for 12 hours a day, they almost never appear in your dreams when you sleep?

apsurd 2y ago
you just blew my mind
amonith 2y ago
There's a "threat simulation theory" that sort of explains it, but it's not 100% correct for everyone. TL;DR: in dreams your brain often seems to practice "threats"/stressful situations. E.g. you're more likely to dream about missing work, having exams, car breaking, running from someone, interacting with someone you care about etc. rather than doing something you're completely used to.
- wholinator2 2y ago
  I wonder if very small children dream about screens then don't understand. Like, if a poor small child got hit with the car commercial or the maze jump scare, would that get added to the threat list? I'm talking young enough that they can't tell you it's a screen. Do babies dream? What could they ever dream about? Is there a library of set concepts that we're all genetically made to fear, if so, how would that be represented in dreams? Gosh
  - amonith 2y ago
    Honestly probably yes to all of those. Except for small children the dreams are probably also non-visual like in the case of blind people. They probably dream about "weird feelings" (chills, shivers, cold, heat etc) and smells and sounds and whatnot. The TST also assumes that some of the instincts are inherited from our ancestors (e.g. that uneasy feeling when you walk alone through the forest at night - because for thousands of years predators could kill you in that exact scenario) so a baby's brain might dream about those feelings too (probably without visuals, just chemically induced feeling of uneasyness). And back to the screen scenario: To the brain "excitement" is also "stressful" from a chemical PoV. So if you really really enjoyed some game (as a kid or whatnot) you probably dreamt about it too.

dghughes 2y ago

I agree physical books are great since you can hold them, smell them - nothing like an ebook. There is also a big advantage for us middle-aged folks that ebooks have and that's adjustable font size. Bifocal glasses help bit making font bigger is better.

loughnane 2y ago

Same with me. Another part is I didn’t like my kids seeing me staring at a screen all the time, especially when they were young enough to not get the distinction between eink and lcd. What’s worse is id be reading all these books and they’d have no idea, even incidentally, what I was reading. Now we’ve probably got 500-600 books on the house and kids are always pulling out something to read. I still get ebooks sometimes to search for something specific or to feel out a book. I still use my remarkable tablet for papers and things, but my personal library (filled with my personal notes that’ll last my life) is very precious to me.

Cthulhu_ 2y ago

I have some books from my childhood still, and while I'm not really interested in reading them, my parents and others that gave them to me as gifts made sure to write a note of sorts in the cover. It's a great idea, if you give books as gifts. Make sure it's written in the book itself, not a separate (loseable) postcard or something. Add a date and the occasion.

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sizzle 2y ago

How do you find time to read?