Books Vs eBooks
Posted on | September 17, 2007 at 8:05 am | 5 Comments
I’m reading Olympos again. It’s the sequel to Illium, a science fiction story about the Trojan War getting hijacked, among other things. If this post is correct, I started reading this book almost two years ago. I know I’ve started over at least once. And I’m not sure I’ve read any novels in the meantime, though I have read a few non-fiction books. It’s not that I don’t like the book or that I think it’s slow or anything, it’s just that it’s big (700 pages) and I’ve had no time for reading. But I’m making a really concentrated effort to finish it. I’m about 2/3 done and I think I’m going to do it this time. It’s telling that when I started reading it, it was only available in hardback, and now it’s been out in mass market paperback for over a year.
So, lately I’ve been reading Olympos in both forms; usually I’ll read the hardback when I’m at home, and the eBook when I’m not. This gives me a good chance to compare what’s it like reading a big novel like this in paper form vs electronic form. I’ve talked a bit before about reading eBooks on my Palm T|X PDA with eReader (I’ve also got MobiPocket reader, though I mostly stick with eReader). Keep in mind that this comparison applies only to using eReader on a T|X. There are other eBook readers out there, and some are bigger (like this one), with larger screen real estate to display more of a page. But they’re also bulkier and not as easy to carry around with you at all times. Anyway, here we go.
Advantages of an eBook:
- Can take it anywhere. If you nearly always carry your PDA with you, then you always have something to read. This is invaluable when waiting for someone or something. It’s nice to be able to sneak in a few pages while I’m in the car waiting for N to get off work, for example. Real books are much harder to tote around, especially if you’re dealing with a hardback like I’m currently doing with Olympos. You can even do a little reading if you’re standing in line somewhere.
- Can carry multiple books with you. You’re limited only by the memory in the PDA/reader. My Palm T|X can store many very large books, especially with an expansion memory card installed. This is cool if you’re in the middle of nowhere and are getting tired of the book you’re reading and want to switch to a different one.
- Since the PDA is backlit, you can essentially read in the dark. It works well if you want to read in bed while not disturbing a significant other who is trying to sleep. It also works well in other situations where there’s not a lot of light. True, small book lights with a paper book would work just as well, but they can be awkward.
- You can highlight a word in the eBook and it will automatically go look up the definition in the dictionary eBook. Of course, the default dictionary doesn’t have a lot in it, so at this point in my life, if I don’t know the word, it’s likely the dictionary doesn’t have it either. But you can buy more complete dictionaries.
- You can search for any word. This is handy when you want to re-read some important exposition passage or whatever, but don’t remember what chapter it was in. If you can remember a key word, you can find it.
- It always remembers where you are in the eBook. If you’re reading multiple eBooks, it remembers where you were in all of them. Much better than a physical bookmark, especially since you can essentially get it down to the paragraph.
- eBooks take up a lot less space than real books. In my current mode of trying to simplify my life, I’d really like to get rid of all the paperbacks and hardbacks I’ve accumulated over the years. Yet I’d like to have some of my favorites available in case I want to read them again or refer to them. eBooks solve that problem (assuming the book is available as an eBook).
- eBooks are backed up on the computer, and can also be read there.
- The price is usually the same or cheaper than the non-electronic version. When the cheaper paperback version of the book comes out, the eBook becomes cheaper also.
- Have the book always available to show to other people, in case you want to read an excerpt to them or something. I remember one dinner out where my friend Lisa read all of Letter To A Christian Nation from my PDA during the course of the evening.
- Lots of different options on eReader to customize your reading experience. I like using “autoscroll”, which makes it so you don’t even have to click anywhere or punch any buttons to see the next page – it just keeps scrolling the text forward line-by-line at whatever speed you choose. You can set bookmarks anywhere, and can make your own notes/annotations. I also like being able to adjust the font size and the font and background colors for maximum readability. I have mine set to white text on a blue background:
Advantages of a real, solid book:
- There’s something that just can’t be beat about the feel of a book in your hands. With eBooks, it somehow doesn’t feel like you’re really reading. Though I’m slowly overcoming that feeling. Holding the eBook reader can become a bit uncomfortable after awhile, mainly due to its small size.
- If you’re a collector like me, you like having the finished book sitting there on the bookshelf – it makes you feel like you’ve achieved something. And it just looks cool.
- In a similar vein, browsing a website isn’t as fun as browsing a book store. And book stores at airports are going to need some kind of kiosk where you can download eBooks right away for those pre-trip impulse buys.
- This is a more personal thing. I like being able to see how many more pages I’ve got to go in the chapter. This is especially helpful when I’m reading in bed and am starting to feel tired. If there’s a lot of pages to go in the chapter, I’ll put it down. If not, I’ll read till the end of the chapter. This is harder to figure out using eBooks, especially since the “page size” is so much smaller and you’re not looking at much text at any one time.
- You never have to worry about running out of power. The eBook reader can run out of battery juice at inopportune times. When I was flying back from my east coast trip in June, and got stuck on the tarmac for hours because of the air traffic control computer problems, I actually came very close to running out of power on my PDA. I was getting the “low battery” indicator as we were descending into Denver. I have to learn to conserve power better on the PDA – turning off Bluetooth and WiFi when not needed, for example. But really, this is only a problem if you’re away from a power outlet for a long time.
- Pictures/illustrations usually look better in a real book. Sometimes the eBook won’t have them at all, or won’t be able to display them in a pleasing manner.
- Not every book is available as an eBook, although there are more all the time. I’m especially disappointed that David Brin’s Uplift series is not available in eBook format (yet), since Startide Rising is perhaps my all-time favorite book. So I guess I’ll have to keep some of those paperbacks a bit longer.
Winner: eBooks.
Though I’m sure I’ll always have some real books around, I can see which way the wind is blowing for me…
[Update/Edit] For more on the eBook “controversy”, see this followup post, where I even modify my feelings a bit.
Pet Peeve Of The Day: [Updated/Edited] When I forget to actually fill in the Pet Peeve Of The Day.
Latre.
Comments
5 Responses to “Books Vs eBooks”
September 17th, 2007 @ 5:40 pm
I remember one dinner out where my friend Lisa read all of Letter To A Christian Nation from my PDA during the course of the evening
Must have been a scintillating soiree. This uncharacteristic (i hope!) snark brought to you by the solid-books-are-WAY-better camp.
September 17th, 2007 @ 8:37 pm
Sometimes I forget that my audience is partially composed of religious librarians…
(Well, one anyway.)
Face it, Janet, books are on the way out! CDs too. Join the 21st century!
September 18th, 2007 @ 9:10 pm
You silly 21st century humans. Books, CDs – E-books, downloads: it’s all going.
The new thing will be TRANSPLASMIC INFORMATIONAL ALGORITHMS.
September 19th, 2007 @ 6:58 am
I was gonna write a long post here about my gradual shift in reading habits over the years due to various life events, but you’ll just have to wait for the podcast.
September 19th, 2007 @ 5:10 pm
Does everyone know that emusic has audiobooks now? Shouldn’t they change the name of the service.. books are not music!