(Pic) Battle Of The Books: Paper Vs. Digital

It's also harder to scan for something and jump around in an e-book. This is fine for reading that is serial, like fiction, but not for reference books. I have a kindle and hardly ever use it.

Interesting remark that you hardly ever use your kindle. Wonder what the actual adoption behavior and drop-off rates are among e-reader users… Seems like a good time to conduct a study. My sister, who is a voracious reader and travels a lot, reads books at home but (understandably) loves her Kindle for weight-saving travel.

I'm an unusual kindle owner in that I rarely read fiction. Something I did like though, was newspapers without advertisements. You can get the NYT downloaded automatically each morning and it came as all text. Without ads, I could actually get through the entire paper.

If you drop a book, the worst that can happen is it get's wet or the cover get's a little wonky. If you drop an e-reader, you might be out a couple hundred dollars. That's my sole reason for not getting an e-reader, since I am perpetually clumsy.

I think the new Kindle is going to be around $150. There's also a cost savings with e-books also - they cost less than print books. Most e-books cost around $9. Even if it the hardcover is selling for $25. If you buy about 10 books with this discount, you would have recovered the $150 for the reader.

I have a problem with the kindle. For me I get more distracted if I see only text. I can't read it. I need color and life on a page to get myself engaged. I'd rather pay for a book because I can read, and look at pictures. I have a little A.D.D. problem, so if I can get a break with pictures, I can go back to reading the article/book. It also helps me to understand the context.

i can totally relate. i have a very difficult time reading books because i get distracted by my surroundings or think about other things i could be doing while staring at the pages of text. for some reason i don't have that problem with internet/digital articles and paper newspapers/magazines. i think a lot of it has to do with length; if i know i can't finish a reading in a brief, casual sitting, i get overwhelmed and lose concentration. i haven't tried a digital reader yet but i will be going back to college soon and plan to use my iPad to purchase and read all of my textbooks. i'm hoping the chopped up, article-like feel of each page will help me consume the material. even if it doesn't, the cost savings and lighter impact (1 lightweight/thin tablet vs. 6 heavy/thick paper books) are good enough reasons for me to go the digital route.

Pretty interesting. Looks the the real story is not "a whole new style of book," it's "a whole new style of reading"…how people consume written material in the digital age. Keep us in the loop on your experiences with the iPad.

I am not actually a book reader anymore but I still do buy books--it's kind of weird. I think it is because I've been trained to read this way. There's something about having tangible objects in your hand too. However, I have seen some pretty cool options in the iPad. I think once this gets going, it could make a significant impact because it enriches the experience of reading. If Imagine clicking on an illustration in the book that has a bit of animation to it.

Years ago, when I lived in Seattle, I took a group of kids to Microsoft's Future Home. It is a field trip where you visit a space/room, with all the latest technologies for the home. It is cool. While I was there, they had a room where they demonstrated a children's book being read through built-in wall speakers and images projected on the wall. As the book was read, thundering and pitter pattering of feet added to the experience. If iPad can add to the experience of reading, I might be more interested in seeing a book this way. But, for now, I'll settle for a book I can take with me to the bathroom.

ipad reading is not as great as i hoped. the shiny glass and the light projected to your eyes are downers. i am more and more fond of audio books once we're talking digital. and am gravitating back to analog books after trying ipad reading. definitely a new form of book is likely - the living, interactive book. however, it's pretty brutally difficult to create this kind of art well -- why i believe we haven't seen much of this yet.

Apparently you're not the only one who feels that way, Dan — http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/20/ebook-revolution_n_688942.html

I only buy dead-tree books when they aren't available via download. Sadly, many companies still insist on DRM - which is made even worse by the fact that everyone insists on their own encryption standard, making it impossible to open an iTunes-bought ebook on a Sony reader, or vice versa. But I'm confident time will fix that, just like it did with digital music.