With Amazon’s announcement that the online retailer now sells more e-books than it does physical hardcovers, it seems as good a time as any to gauge where the battle-lines are being drawn. Some of the more tech-savvy among us may prefer the large storage capacities and easy portability of e-readers (anyone with a sizable library who has had to move can appreciate that), while others believe that you’ll never be able to beat the feeling of holding a book in your hands. Which side are you on?
Jul 21
2010
02:58 PM ET
E-books outsell hardcovers on Amazon: Which format do you prefer?
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I love the feel and smell of a real book. Is that weird? I can’t imagine not having my bookcases filled with books.
Me too. I love having some of my favorite books on my shelf. I know it’s not environmentally friendly, but there’s nothing like opening a book for the first time.
I love building my bookshelves too- It’s such a personal expression of the homeowner. I enjoy the feeling of a tangible book and since I read a ton of nonfiction, I enjoy access to all the photos in the books. In the end – more and more people are reading because of ebooks – that’s awesome – how can anyone complain about that?
Environmentally friendly? Almost all book paper is made from recycled paper. What do you think powers an e-book? Last I checked hard and soft cover books aren’t made from any conflict minerals and don’t fill landfills once they have become obsolete or don’t hold a power charge!
@Lindsay–I totally agree..I love to fill my bookshelves and do find it to be a huge expression of who I am..I love looking at others’ bookshelves as well. You can tell so much about a person by the movies and books they watch and read. A person’s connection with pop culture is a fascinating expose on their likes, dislikes, and creative expression.
I love my filled bookshelves too, it’s a great feeling. I worry so much that many of this generation will never learn a love of reading because they have developed too short of an attention span.
The Harry Potter and Twilight (sadly) sales say otherwise
@Christian, a couple of succesful series does not indicate a love of reading. It indicates an infatuation.
Sales numbers of all the various HP and Twilight knockoffs say otherwise. Look, I’m not saying HP will save reading for the next generation. But book sales continue to be strong amongst the 17-and-under set. The idea that reading is dying is based on the same contemporary elitism that makes movies like Idiocracy possible.
Twilight is the new Sweet Valley High style books – books that get girls addicted to reading romance and not books with substinance
Harry Potter made me like reading. I never enjoyed it until I picked the series up at 10. While my tastes have broadened, my love for reading can be attributed to reading that first HP book. And I know many people who can also attribute their love for reading back to HP. To say that a successful series indicate an infatuation is simply speaking without an idea of what your talking about.
I too love the smell of a book. I love it. I used to work in a library in book repair and my favorite thing was when a book needed it’s spine replaced so you’d exacto knife the old one off and it would release this wonderful scent of old book and dust and it was wonderful. You can take my books from me the day you pry them from my cold dead hands.
Completely agree with you. I really have no interest in ebooks and I love the smell of books and turning the physical pages and seeing how far I’ve progressed.
I’m totally with you Jill. But you can still enjoy both! And BlackIrish, don’t worry: plenty of people in the younger generations are still reading.
It’s actually kind of surprising, but the only people I see purchasing Readers and Ebooks ARE the older generation. My father and grandmother both have one and prefer it, either for the newspaper subscriptions or larger font, or a dark backlight. I think the younger generation might be the ones who keep the Print media in business. Not the other way around.
I suppose it is easier to manipulate the size of the print in e-media. Not all print books/magazines/newspapers come in large print.
I purchased a Nook e-reader several months ago and have since purchased an equal number of paper books and e-books. I love both, neither are inconvenient to carry around, but it is a lot easier to carry several books in my purse using my Nook.
I have a couple of 5 shelf bookcases full of books, but I was given a Nook for Christmas last year and I absolutely adore it. I have a cover for it, which makes it feel more like a real book. The best part is taking your entire library wherever you go, instead of packing a couple of heavy hardcovers in your luggage. I still buy “real” books, and I love having my shelves of books, but you can’t beat the convenience of the ereaders if you travel a lot. And you when you finish a book, you just download a new one without having to go to the store.
I agree! I love having “real” books, but it is also great knowing when I’m traveling that I can read whatever I want. If I’m in the mood for fiction, I read that or if I hear about a good book I can buy it immediately and start reading.
There are still many books that I will only buy as a regular book.
It really isn’t an either/or situation.
I agree wholeheartedly. I have 3 5-shelf bookcases crammed to capacity, and a stack of books ready to read, and my Kindle has about 50 books in it as well. I read “actual” books while I’m sitting around the house and take my Kindle when I’m on the go. It’s really the best of both worlds for the avid reader.
My wife can’t get over how I read 7 or 8 books at a time, but I simply compare it to watching 7 or 8 TV series at a time and manage to keep characters and story lines straight. People do that every day and no one questions it (as do I, if not more). Why is this any different? She gets it now.
I like the technology of the ebooks and ereaders but I have so many unread actual books that I won’t be buying an ereader anytime soon. I’d most likely go with the Nook when I do, but the iPad is a viable competitor. I voted either because when I buy books, I usually buy paperbacks and the comparison, in the blog at least, seemed to be more between hardcovers and ebooks.
Me too! I love books not e-books.
My Kindle has changed my life. I love it – and I am an Antique Appraiser and love old rare books. My bookshelves are packed at home. But for carpool, trips, bed, waiting for children’s activities, reading multiple books – it is the best. If I really love a book and want to “own” it for my shelves – I can buy it. Really, I love this more than my iPad. Especially for night reading on my side (too much info?)
I don’t want to be overblown about this but that is really disappointing especially if you love old rare books.
Why – would you take your rare books to the beach? To your child’s volleyball weekend tourney? You can love and adore old books and that includes taking care of them. It also includes just loving the written word and that the kindle can provide while also offering connivence and instant purchases when someone recommends a book. It’s all good. Don’t be disappointed
I’m with you. When I read a book I like I want to keep it forever. Books are like markers in my life. I can’t read Gone With the Wind without thinking of the first summer I read it, I don’t think I would ever be as attached to an electronic book just as when I have a favorite musician I buy her music on CD and can add it to my ipod if I like too. I like having the concrete object, some proof that it existed.
sbwm, I’m a book conservator and have the same reaction. There are some books I *need* to own as books, but for day-to-day semi-disposable reading to pass the time,my Kindle is indispensable. I’ve read more leisure material in the month that I’ve had the Kindle than I have in the 6 months before I got it.
I am with you guys on this. I have worked in libraries most of my life. Been a reader since age 3. But having my Kindle is the best. I still have some books but they are mostly cookbooks, art books, books still not on Kindle, and books with special memories for me. As I get older, the fact that I can adjust the font size is a boon, I can carry 200+ books with me at all times, and have the concenience of quick dictionary facilities when needed. I make notes, underline passages, without dogearing pages, cracking binding, or (gulp!) killing trees. When I have managed to redo my my library about every 5 years and easily rid myself of 500-1000 books at a time, the e-book saves me room and save my sanity.
My sentiments exactly! I love hard copies of great books for my shelves at home but love the portability of my Sony Reader when I’m commuting to work or otherwise traveling away from home.
Yes. TMI.
Anyone who has actually tried to “curl up with a good book” knows that it is actually very hard physically to do that. When you are curled on your side the pages flip around unless you place your hand over one side, making things somewhat uncomfortable. Like you said, there is NOTHING that beats an e-reader for in bed side reading! The fools here have no idea what they are saying if they reject an e-reader outright.
Um, actually, I read in bed a lot with real paper books. I find them very comforting, which is a feeling I can’t get from curling up with a machine with buttons and a screen.
I HATE e-books with every fiber of my being. Is that too over the top? They are killing print and what about the time honored tradition of lending a friend a book to try and turn them on to an author you love? I’ve gotten many people into reading the incredible James Lee Burke by lending them one of his paperbacks (and then having them watch Heaven’s Prisoners, good book to movie adaption).
I agree with you. Every time I see someone with a kindle or other e-reader a little part of me dies. It’s so sad to think that my nephew who is now 2 may never know what it’s like to have a shelf full of books that he cherishes but rather a file on a computer. It’s sad to me.
If it makes you better, think of all the trees that don’t have to die because thousands of people hold on to old Grisham hardcovers or Lincoln bios they’ll never read again (if they ever read it to begin with).
I said that wrong. Add a negative somewhere between “people” and “hold”
I agree that turning my friends on to books and authors I am reading is a wonderful thing. BUT, I can loan my digital copy of almost all of my e-books to my friends who are willing to read it in an e-book format. I have already had friends ask for copies of my e-books to read on their e-readers. The technology is not killing the written word, it is just making it readily available to those who need or want the convenience of carrying their library with them. I wish that more authors would allow their books to be published electronically. I would really love a second copy of the Harry Potter series on my Nook.
HOW DO I LEND A NOOK BOOK TO A SONY EREADER THAT I PURCHASE?
I can’t imagine using an e-book, it just wouldn’t be the same as physically holding the book. Also, my eyes never run out of batteries
My favorite books are library-binding books. Those are free.
Yes, but a book you own you can read on your own time. Two weeks is not long enough for me, sorry.
I love, love, love the old-school reading of books. Heck, I still even go to the library to borrow books. For some reason, I like the feeling of knowing that this book has been read by many people.
Gerrrrrrmmmmmmmssssss
Well, I’m not a germaphobe so it doesn’t bother me.
lol. thats what i think when i pick up a library book. i love having books, but i dont want to share.
And I should mention that I’m in my 20s, so I’m still young.
i’m with you. Libarybooks always make me think about what other people thought of as they read that part of a book. It is a little interconnectedness that I find appealing.
I spend enough of my time at work and at home staring at a screen and don’t really envision wanting to read books on one. I’m a prolific reader and nothing will replace a physical book for me.
A kindle is NOT back lit like a “screen’ It feels no different on the eyes than reading a page from a book.
My shelves are maxed out (literally), but I can’t imagine going to an e-reader yet… Most of my reading time happens in the bathtub, so I’d rather dunk a $12 paperback than a $300 reader!
I am all about e-readers for trips or being on the go, but there is no way they should replace real books. The smell and feel of a book is unbeatable.
So, I’m moving in a month. The thought of packing up my extensive library and hauling it to my new place is quite daunting. But. It won’t drive me to an e-reader. I love my book-books.
I get from the library what I can; buy, read and donate what I can’t. Holding on to books that I probably won’t read again never made any sense to me, so I don’t. I like the Kindle, though, because of the free sample chapters – makes vetting books a lot easier.
Libraries do lend out e-books.
Mark me down as a big fan of e-books. I love being able to adjust the type size, look up a definition without having to search for a dictionary, search for a word or phrase at the touch of a button and basically carry an entire library around in one hand.
My only complaint is that not all books are available in e-book format yet. I’m currently reading a book published in the early ’90s. Because it’s neither current nor out-of-copywright I’m finding it frustrating to go back to “the old way” of reading a book. (Cue the curmudgeon in me to say: “I remember when you actually had to turn pages and risk paper cuts.”)
I used to only like the feeling of real books but was getting tired of buying books and running out of places to put them. So i went and bought a Nook and I have to say that it has changed my thinking entirely! I love that all my books are all in one place and they are so convenient to buy. I haven’t bought anything but e-books since.
For years I was a die hard component of real books, couldn’t imagine not holding a book in my hand and my bookshelf showed it. Then I played with a coworker’s kindle and thought it was pretty amazing. I received one for my birthday a year ago and it has become like a 3rd arm. I find I read better and more comprehensively on it, it is easier to take on vacation and take places. With airline weight limits it is also easier to pack versus the 4 or 5 books I used to take on vacation, just to get me through layovers. I still have 2 full bookcases but anything new I buy is on my kindle.
I prefer paperbacks actually.
But I would consider breaking down and getting one only for series that are over 5 books.
And to hide those regency romance novels so I can read them in public.
Now THERE’s the market! Guilty pleasure books. haha.
I agree..that is a great market..guilty pleasures.
I second that idea! And I also prefer paperbacks to hardcovers – I take very good care of my books and paperbacks cost less. If I HAVE to have a book I will buy hardcover but I’ve gotten the library hardcover and then waited til the paperback comes out to buy for keeps.