who has given up on paper, books that is!

[troymclure]

after 15 years of collecting every book i could afford to buy(ebay is amazing for random lot sales) i had accumulated over 500lbs/approx 5k books. all packed into 18g tupperware tubs.

when it came time to move for the umpteenth time i gave up.
i sold a few, and gave away the rest.

now i rarely pick up a paper book.

ive been an ebook reader fan since 2001 when i bought a franklin ebookman that could read a massive mmc card of 25mb. lol
after going thru several of those(not durable, but cheap) and struggling to find ebooks(while still buying tons of paperbacks) i discovered the ipod touch.
small and convenient barely made up for the 13 different apps needed to read different formats of documents. the small screen didnt help much either.

i now own a kindle fire. i only buy a few books now as amazon has sooooo many for free.

who else has given up the paper?

 

[plpenn]

I like my fire but I still like a paper book too. I was just thinking about this tonight as I read a journal article for school on my computer and wished I had a paper copy I could highlight and make notes on.

I think there is a balance somewhere. I just got a small Hemingway book of the month club collection from the 80's in today that I found on Amazon. I sat down to read a few pages of 'The Old Man and the Sea' then before I knew it I finished the whole thing! There is just something about flipping through the pages.

There are still a lot of books that are almost as expensive on an ereader as they are in print though. I guess for me it depends on convenience. I did order an APA manual the other night from my kindle and it is nice because it took about 30 seconds to be delivered, I didn't have to leave my house and I can view it on my computer too. The down side to that is sometimes I cant stand staring at the dang computer and it is not the same to "highlight" text on the computer/reader as it is to use a new bright yellow highlighter on paper.

 

[noahpictures]

Me and I don't miss paper.

 

[oc_in_fw]

Never will. Books have a feel that ebooks cannot replace. Plus, you don't truly own your digital copy, and it is too easy to edit it the next time you go online.

 

[Toothpick]

I prefer to read an ebook but I still want to own the physical book.

I have a list of about 6 books i've read on my iphone that I need to purchase.

 

[Andy]

I have only brought two paper books in the last few years, all the rest have been ebooks.
So much easier to carry a reader around than a bag full of books.

 

[Hunter]

I like both for separate reasons. Yeah there is something about the feel of a book in your hands as you turn the page... but there is also the pain in the *** of when you are traveling or in bed trying to read some 1200 page book that doesn't want to work no matter what you do. My basic rule is if I need to pack light or am going traveling I will bring a book or two that is under 2cm thick and my kobo. If I know I'm going to be chilling out and having bulk won't be an issue, I'll bring some more paperbacks or a few hardcovers.

 

[Ronnie Aloha]

I'm in half and half. I generally only get Kindle stuff on sale or where it is free due to expired copyrights. My daughter on the other hand only likes to read on the Kindle app on her ipad and iphone 5. Hey, at least it gets her reading and its so convenient since I can tell her to read in the car since she always has her phone. It syncs with the ipad so she is always on the right page when she starts reading. Gotta love technology.

 

[Niles]

Paper almost exclusively for me.

 

[shaveitoff]

I recently got rid of quite a number of books. I have been reading most of my books on an ereader since 2009. I can borrow ebooks from my library, so I rarely purchase ebooks or physical books. The only books I kept were either more expensive ones, reference books, and some I thought I might re-read someday. Re-reading hardly ever happens for me in reality. Once I realized that, it was easy to get rid of the books and actually felt quite good to do so. I also got rid of a bunch of other material things at the same time in an attempt to de-clutter.

 

[Arcadies]

I donated my entire collection to a thrift store that is ran by a local homeless shelter, it was about 1000 books, accumulated over 15-20 years.
It would have been many more but I also frequently borrowed books from the local library.

I exclusively use a Kindle Paperwhite now and would never go back, they were too heavy and used up too much space in my already small home.

 

[BubblesTGB]

I do have some ebooks using iBooks on my ipad and the kindle app on my ipad. But I still like the feel of turning the pages. So I think a mix for me will work.

 

[garyg]

Obviously since we're here we all employ glass & plastic to some extent. Sons have lent me their e-readers to no avail, I think though that generations suckled on the boob tube enjoy the ebooks more than I ever will. I haven't counted, but just allegorically when I search book titles in our library system (yep, online 60 some branches) way less than half are offered electronically. Regular books canna be damaged by dropping (unless they can't be e-trived) and can be used for other purposes, eh

http://www.youtube.com/embed/V_gOZDWQj3Q?rel=0

 

[Bad Robot]

I mainly read on an ereader for convenience. I still like paper books though, especially graphic novels. Before relocating from the UK myself and the SO both worked in the booksellng/publishing sector and sold around 3000 books before we left. We currently have around 2000 physical books at the moment so ereading does help keep the storage space down too.

 

[John Von Wuggz]

I miss paper books but that hasn't stopped me from making the switch to digital. I donated all but a few of my old books and never looked back. Most books I read now are on iOS devices and with all the EPub transfers books are even cheaper or free.

 

[Hunter]

The coolest thing about the ebooks is that a writer can self publish their books, for a dollar or two a piece, give the distributor their share then pocket the rest of the money so they can keep writing.

 

[LiveOak]

I was a paper purist until I got my Kindle Paperwhite. Boy, do I love that thing! I prefer a dedicated reader over reading on a tablet also. The experience is exactly like looking at a page in a physical book. Plus, being able to carry around hundreds of books on that one device is amazing.

I lost most of my books in Hurricane Katrina. I was an English major in college, so I had a lot of them. Many nice signed things (even had a copy of Eudora Welty's photographs signed by her). Now I don't trust paper copies of anything. Digital storage is the way to go. I lost precious family photos, etc., and was lucky I for some reason took the home video tapes before we evacuated. Physical media gets old, yellow, lost, degrades, etc.

 

[tfinch]

I'd love to give up paper books. I read a heck of a lot, and it sure takes up space between trips to donate what I've already read. However, I like to read in my bed, and I'm just not thinking the electronic device would feel right.

 

[Hunter]

I'd love to give up paper books. I read a heck of a lot, and it sure takes up space between trips to donate what I've already read. However, I like to read in my bed, and I'm just not thinking the electronic device would feel right.

Well if you have a friend with an ereader, ask to borrow it and try reading with it for a few nights, depending on the size of books you read and if you move a lot when you read like I do you may enjoy it.

 

[bilkay]

I stopped buying paper books (mostly) 3 or 4 years ago. If I can't get something in electronic format, I'll buy a paper book (it's happened a few times with new hardcover publications). I started using the Kindle reader on a smart phone, then bought a Kindle Fire, and now i use an iPad.