Technology | A Question about Books : Do you prefer actual or digital?
Tuesday 19th June, 2012
by Roséline
. . . all meetings & appointments, since the beginning of the year, have been written, by hand, in a daybook with gilded edges, while p uses an online calender and his iphone to keep track of things; similarly, still prefer to be lost in the pages of actual books, while p does most of his reading now, on an ipad, and was wondering — do you still read actual books, or have you switched over to digital?
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I was considering buying a Kindle for a 17 day vacation next month until I dropped my iPhone. It was very dead, no retrieval of any information, photos, just nothing, it was all gone. I would have still bought paper books but thought the Kindle might weight less to carry around with me on this trip.
Now I back up both my iPad and iPhone to “the Cloud” and am going to take only paper books with me. It was a hard lesson that digital devices, break, get lost or stolen.
I am going to be editing out the 8 bookcases of books I own though. I will only keep those I love and give away the others I know I won’t re-read later.
I will be always the biggest fan of the real books – there’s nothing like to be lost in a book and to forget about everything and everyone!
http://glamourgirl-bg.blogspot.com/
Books…books and more books please, never lose the romance of a novels pages flicked through the fingers!
Oh I most certainly will always choose a “real” book over an e-book. I do have an e-reader for traveling purposes, but it doesn’t give me the same warm, fuzzy feeling that I get when I am curled up with real book–feeling the pages beneath my fingers and smelling the fresh ink on the crisp pages.
I find it interesting the distinction between ‘real’ and ‘not real’ that people are making. Is Fitzgerald’s prose any less real because of the format it comes in? I think not.
Switching almost entirely to digital has allowed me to consume more books without accumulating more dreaded stuff, while allowing my bookshelves to become a haven for books that have changed me in some way. I now only own physical books if they have impacted my life/way of thinking significantly. With my kindle I’m never without a book to read.
I do both! I buy beautiful editions of classics and hardcovers of authors I love and those with lots of pictures like illustrated books and cookbooks etc.
For my Kindle, I buy books that I’m unlikely to want to read again and books that are only available in paperback. Sometimes, if I really love a book I buy it in both Kindle and paper versions especially if I want to read it on the go.
I love the idea of virtual books – especially as I always seem to be sitting on a train or in a car, and my bag is heavy enough with my laptop, sunglasses lipstick, etc … and lord knows I don’t need to be carrying 1 (or three) books. But to tell you the truth I always end up carrying those books and ignoring the weightless digital versions. I just so much more prefer the tactile experience of holding a book, turning the pages, smelling that library book smell, and just being able to feel the story. I know one day I will cave a get an e-reader, but it will never replace, in my heart, a real live book whom I can pick up and visit again like a friend.
If all books of today looked like that I wouldn’t mind having them.
But I’ve switched to überdigital. I “read” Audiobooks because they fit into my phone. Don’t want to carry an ipad instead of a book. When I carry my phone and it fits into my pocket.
both books and e-books, but I of course am a bit partial to a bound book.
a bound sketchbook too~
pve
i’m old school. i like the paper copies. the older the better. with a broken in spine and a dusty smell that lilts off the page. books are romantic. technology not so much.
I find ‘digital’ reading extremely unromantic. I moved overseas and brought a few kilo’s of books with me. Other’s might find that to be a waste of weight but I don’t care, I will never buy a kindle! Rachael
What a glamorous post!!! no, i still love to buy them and read books.
I love both, but I love holding a book and a newspaper in my hands. Digital is certainly convenient while traveling.
Happy Tuesday.
Teresa
xoxo
I have switched to digital- it’s so much easier with my daily commute. However, I miss the smell of books and the excitement of a brand new planner!
Oh no way, I read real books. I love the feeling of turning a page, the smell of a new book, the sound of the spine cracking. I’m just traditional like that. I actually read Jane Eyre over and over again and have one really beaten up copy. I have coffee rings on the pages from when I was reading it in a cafe in Egypt. A little spot of where I dropped gelato, as I read it on a bench in Italy. And a wine stain on the cover from sitting in Retiro in Madrid. Those add personality to the book I guess and I’d love to share this book [with its adventures] with my kids one day.
Tech for appointments…real books ALL the way for reading!
Love to read books, turning the pages is such a pleasure! I go with both new technology and traditional books!
Love the first image!
That is so cool! Great Post!
http://www.savvyspice.com/
I will always be in favour of print. I love the feel of a printed book or magazine in my hands – an electronic device just isn’t the same! But technology is becoming so much easier & more common for sure. x
Kate {Something Fabulous}
http://thesomethingfabulous.blogspot.com
Totally switched to digital, it’s easier and faster. Though, I still enjoy worthy books and favorite magz printed! Xo
I do both. I so love the pages, but find it convenient at times to use my iPad.
Xx
Callie
Computer or paper, I can’t seem to consistently use a day planner which so far has worked, but I’m starting to realize I really need a system.
As for reading, I got the kindle for the free classic books and Kindle owner’s lending library (more free books!) and library books downloaded right to the kindle (yay free books!). Otherwise, I still prefer paper. Just can’t beat a REAL book.
Love your website. Truly inspirational!
Oh Roseline this is a very hard question. I write almost daily in a journal but when I am travelling or meeting with clients I like to have as little paper as possible. When I am home, I love to curl up with a good book. When I’m travelling I can’t take all of my books so my iPad and my Nook are in tote with me. I love to write and I love to see my handwriting in a beautiful “planners”…I will always have both! XO
I’m split! I LOVE getting lost in a real, honest to goodness book. Especially an old one, where the pages smell of glue and history, and you can turn the pages while you drink coffee and watch the San Francisco fog roll in.
However, when I travel, which is frequently because of my job, I can’t go without my Nook. Plane travel is time consuming and because I’m a fast reader, loading a few library books onto my e-reader beats carrying them around AND I get to catch up on all that reading, instead of just sitting around.
Working st a library of course I love books! But I like my Kindle too!
I choose the printed word over digital. Ten to one. Easy choice. I actually think it’s kind of sad that everything is going so high tech.
I love my books but I also love my Nook. I have the best of both worlds. I don’t feel the need to own every book in hard copy. But I still utilize the public library on a weekly basis.
These photos are so beautiful! Real books will always be better, I cannot stand electronic ones or silly kindles I feel like I should be staring at something else.
I bought a Kindle… I’ve been trying to embrace it. And I will admit that when I’m traveling for work it’s nice to tuck that little contraption in my bag instead of 2-3 full sized books. However, I’m a purist. I just can’t embrace it fully. I love good old fashioned paper books too much. Hardcovers to be exact. I love the feel of the paper in my hands, the smell of them, being able to flip through the book to a later page – or physically see how many pages are left in a chapter, etc. The real book is too embedded in my heart. I just can’t fully embrace the e-book format.
I’ve slowly been transitioning my datebook to my iPhone and iPad but I still have to read real books and magazines. There’s just something about the feeling of paper and turning the page….
I love my books and the texture, art work and smell.
I would use a kindle in a crunch but still love to hug my printed book.
Helen xx