The Sword and Laser discussion

Hi there fellow readers!

I would like to know how you prefer to read your favourite titles!

For a class project we have complied a short survey that we would love for you to take part in. It should only take about 5 minutes, and will let us know your preference between eBooks or Paper Books!

Here's the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/13PHt...

Feel free to share the survey with friends, family and fellow book lovers!

Thank you!

I just took your survey. (sort of fun) I buy most books in ebook form now, but I still buy paperback for long running series that I just like to see up on my bookshelf.

But I have no doubt I will only buy ebooks within the next few years. That is just the way it's headed.

done.

I buy all books in print version. If i get an ereader then i can download every book for free, like i do for music and movies. Id rather not do this as i love browsing bookshops and making a purchase.

I imagine i will be forced into an ereader in the next decade or sooner when books cease paper format but i hope this never happens.

You really should add Nook to the choices for ebooks; it's far more common than Kobo, which _is_ in the list.

Filled your survey.
novels => all e-books
Graphic novels/comics => all print ( I tried e-books but I prefer print in the end).

Also, the question about the likelihood that I will read various kinds of books in digital format... I think you're trying to ask "if you read this kind of material, how likely are you to read it in digital format?", but as worded, I'm more likely to answer "unlikely" for "children's books" because I don't actually read that kind of book in any format. Likewise, I don't buy magazines at all, so whether or not I'd read them in digital format is besides the point.

And one last thing: What is "children's" material? Are you talking about picture books, juvenile chapter books (Harry Potter 1), Young Adult (Harry potter 7/Hunger Games/The Fault In Our Stars)... ? YA deals with a lot of adult/coming of age issues, including sex & sexuality, death, moral ambiguity, etc... that I personally don't classify as "children's" literature, but I wonder if that was your intention.

Kim wrote: "Hi there fellow readers!

I would like to know how you prefer to read your favourite titles!

For a class project we have complied a short survey that we would love for you to take part in. It shou..."

Done!

One quibble - ebooks ARE real books, there's nothing imaginary about them! :-) In my mind, I've edited your discussion title to "ebooks vs. paper books".

Took the survey. I have found myself using the kindle more and more than buying paper books. I find it more convenient and with the sometimes crazy low prices on Amazon I have picked up a lot more books than I used to when I was getting paper ones.
Graphic novels I will keep getting paper versions of at least for now.
So much easier to travel with as well. I'm thinking of re buying some of my favourite print books on kindle so I can take them away without taking up space in my luggage.

Filled it in for you.

Had a couple of remarks on the survey, but Robert of Dale has already addressed what I was going to say.

Fill it out. I prefer dead tree version because I like to have sometimes more than one physical copy to collect for different printings and covers. The most important reason is because I enjoy the feel of a physical book in the hand, digital book is just a different media for me. But I do have a kindle fire bought for my sister under my name that my mom asked me to buy for Christmas of 2011.

I only use my ereader to read the classics as you can get them for free. For everything else I prefer paper books.

Filled it in. Although I am aware of the fact that digital copy takes over paper one (at least in my case) still it's strange to see how much I spent on ebook and how much on paper (90-10%).

Done.

I would have added a question of borrowing an ebook/paper book from libraries. I've been doing that recently, instead of purchasing.

Novels I tend to buy as e-books, unless it is a series I am following,like Discworld (although Snuff I bought as an e-book). History books I find easier as print as it is far more convenient to reference tables and appendices and such. I do like paper books as they are lovely to hold and feel and see but they are way more expensive. I can buy 3 or 4 e-books for the price of a paperback.

Written papaer is the most valuable thing in the world. I once held a hand-written 800 year old book in my hand. It was hand-written by his author and it was the only copy in the world. It was first rediscovered in a private collection in 1910s, and it created great impact. It changed everything scientists know about particular field of history and historiography.

Forgive me but I assume something similar to that will never happen with a digital book. I doubt if any digital book will survive a century. They are not real books, they are just ephemeral "ghost" copies of books.

I would actually wager that the digitization of books would make them more likely to survive the ages.

Rasnac wrote: "Written papaer is the most valuable thing in the world. I once held a hand-written 800 year old book in my hand. It was hand-written by his author and it was the only copy in the world. It was firs..."

Yeah but was it even worth reading? Age does not imply that something is good. I'm sure it was useful as an archaeological and anthropological artifact but not as a book. Digital books are just a new medium. As papyrus and skins and clay and stone all have been. The words are the important part, not how they are presented.

TL:DR Digital books are real books.

I took your survey. I prefer "dead tree" books, mostly because I like showing them off, almost like a trophy case and I can be like "Yes, I've read (name a book)." And I just like the feel of opening them and turning the pages. I also feel like when I do read eBooks my pace slows considerably (with no comprehension increase).

Ironically, it's an interesting dynamic where I like paper books but my mother prefers eBooks, so you have the younger (relatively) more tech savvy 20-something son reading papers books but my 50-something mother preferring her Nook.

@Kim: I assume you did not read this part of my post:"It was first rediscovered in a private collection in 1910s, and it created great impact. It changed everything scientists know about particular field of history and historiography." So yeah, It was worth reading, to say the least.

@Christopher With ever changing technology even most of the digital material from begining of the decade start to fade. There are some games, movies, blog posts, websites that are gone forever now. But a real book can just sit waiting on a shelf of a library or collection for hundreds, if not thousands of years.So, are books that were written on papyrus, clay or stone. Because they exist in real world, not a virtual digital one. ;)

I agree. Each has its place and there will always be some people who prefer one to the other. I guess one of the upsides of E-books is they are easier to make larger print - no separate printing needed just increase the font.

Many indie authors would not be able to afford to publish with just paper books and I think e-readers are great for short stories. Would you go and buy a 30 page print book?

More books are good and if a wider audience find them this is a great thing.

Now that people have seen digital works being orphaned by changing format, more people are making sure it doesn't happen to stuff they care about. Plus as technology develops, long-term storage is likely to get better.

Which is to say, I don't know how much is actually getting there, but I've read some highly nerdly discussions about cool ways to Save It All. The details mostly whoosh by me, but it's nice to know it's on someone's radar.

I've gotten to the point where all other things being equal, I prefer eBooks, but other things aren't always equal -- for example, earlier this year I read the eBook edition of Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-Earth and decided it didn't work nearly as well as the physical book -- in the physical book, Christopher Tolkien was doing all kinds of things with changing font size and indentation and such to distinguish stuff his father wrote vs. his [Christopher's] commentary on the stuff his father wrote, and all of that formatting was lost in the electronic edition. Plus footnotes are still kind of a pain, to say nothing of maps and illustrations.

Joseph I agree. I wanted to read The Silmarillionearlier this year and I have lovely paperback copy which disappeared just before the group read started. I bought an e-copy and found it quite hard work. I am the sort that likes to use the glossary and the tables and graphs etc and finds it a bit of a pain with a kindle. I really enjoyed the book but I did struggle a bit and if I read it again I may well hunt out the paperback or buy a new one. I shall keep in mind your comments about the Unfinished tales.

I read a lot of history books and I find those work better for me as physical books.