Why the Hell are Ebooks so appealing!? [Archive]

Brenya

08-31-2007, 08:26 PM

Well I turn down the brightness and contrast and watch my enormous LCD screen that's strategically attached to the ceiling above my luxury 4 poster bed. That's how... I do it ..and you?
Lol that's hot.

I don't like ebooks. I ruins the [reading] experience for me. I read anywhere from crowded subways to gym locker-rooms, so luggin' around a laptop ain't gonna work. I heard some people put ebooks on pda's, though, and that's cool.

I might actually try that. Maybe there is a pda that has a usb port for my flash drive.

I print out if I wanna read. I can't do it on the screen, it knackers me eyes....

dude benchez, you better have put that print quality on draft, and black-and-white, because ink is kinda expensive. not to mention the paper. i don't want to do the math, put printing out a 2-300-page book might cost around 7 dollars. It depends on the ebook though, because some use a lot less ink than others.

Still i'd hate to be the one who has to staple together a 300-page book. Maybe staple it in chapters? Still a hassle to archive. Then again, maybe you have the big ol' filing cabinet for printed ebooks.

Just another thought, it would be more convenient (at least for me) if you bought a printer that, instead of printing 8-by-11.5in sheets, it printed something more like 5-by-7.2in sheets.

crabmed

09-01-2007, 06:02 AM

I print them and I have them soft-bounded..:D

bornwithnoname

09-02-2007, 01:19 AM

I use my laptop at night and listen to audio books when I am on the road.

SAM

09-02-2007, 11:23 PM

same here but now i'm into audio books mainly

Brenya

09-03-2007, 07:22 AM

Yeah, audio books are great for people who are verbal learners.

dbmp

09-03-2007, 10:21 AM

Yeah, audio books are great for people who are verbal learners.

Or to lazy folks... :P

jiggawhaaat

09-06-2007, 10:26 AM

I can't do ebooks, i can however to e-magazines, don't really know why.

I sometimes listen to audiobooks but then I feel like I'm in elementry school again.

neosadow

09-14-2007, 08:33 PM

i think audio books were originally invented for the disabled but everyone is "on the go" that people just use them alot more.

i pop something that interests me into my mp3player or listen off the laptop on the commute to work or when im out on a walk. ebooks are the best things ever :)

Trexx

09-14-2007, 08:38 PM

I simply take the Ebook, turn it vertically on screen, turn the screen itself vertically, and well, it gives me the feeling i'm reading an actual book.

ilya

09-15-2007, 06:51 PM

Actually i am wondering the same thing for quite some time... i can't seem to find the reason :blink:

polarix

09-16-2007, 06:41 AM

I can read from a screen just fine, I guess I've been doing it for 15 years, kind of got used to it.

I will definitely choose a hard copy book if I can, over an ebook. But searching is a major plus. And being able to copy paste. And the storage requirements for 50k ebooks is significantly less than 50k RL books.

dhee_es

09-17-2007, 01:14 AM

Well, to answer the question of ebooks' appeal... you can get them for free...

But, personally, I can't stand ebooks. Staring at a monitor with nothing but lines and lines of text just feels too weird.

Darth Sushi

09-22-2007, 01:06 AM

I transfer my ebooks to my PDA and read them wherever I want. Also, thanks to ebooks, I'm willing to try a lot more titles since it's free. When I travel, I can carry 1000s of ebooks on my PDA, which takes up less space then a paperback.

macking

10-11-2007, 02:40 AM

Best way to read ebooks is with a ebook reader:

http://www.nealford.com/images/sony_ereader_closeup.png

These pieces of kit use something called e-ink.

When you change the page magnetic ink flows to the parts where the word is but the plus side is it's practically like reading a book since there is no backlit LCD messing your eyes up.

You can store thousands of books on a decent sized memory card and in a few years there will be ebook readers with flexible displays and proper colour:

http://www.intertechusa.com/images/hotel_&_misc_images/eReaderAnimation.gif

It looks like e-reading is the future

StuJB

10-23-2007, 05:17 PM

I've got the Sony Reader - awesome piece of kit. Otherwise ebooks are just as the first poster described!

flicke

11-11-2007, 08:22 PM

I like using them based on that fact that they're free!

Ænima

11-12-2007, 12:35 AM

I've got the Sony Reader - awesome piece of kit. Otherwise ebooks are just as the first poster described!
I agree. I'm getting a Sony Reader soon...

melonmilk

11-21-2007, 08:44 AM

You can actually read books with your symbian cellphones! Very handy if you don't have pdas and you don't want to bring around your laptop to read. I've seen the program for java phones and I'm not really impressed..

walom

11-22-2007, 02:37 AM

I only read Ebooks that are too expensive to buy in hard copy. But i find technical books very useful in digital form, because of the fast searching ability and copy past. I'm also very anal about the condition of my books, so when i'm able to have the book open on the screen I can flip back and forth from what I'm doing to the book, where as a hard copy I would have to have it laid out on the table next to me and that usually creases the spine.

affenkopf

11-22-2007, 10:04 PM

I've got the Sony Reader - awesome piece of kit. Otherwise ebooks are just as the first poster described!

I got one too, with a Sony Reader (or any other e-ink device) reading ebooks is really not that different from reading normal books (only much cheaper).

helsing

11-30-2007, 12:30 PM

e-learning is better, but i have no problem reading ebooks.

Cheeseman1208

12-01-2007, 08:20 PM

e-learning is better, but i have no problem reading ebooks.
Same here, but I think that nothing can beat a normal book. I have a comfy leather chair and a laptop for eBook reading, so I find it quite enjoyable.

AmpeD

12-02-2007, 12:18 AM

I like to have ebooks to supplement the actual book if im reading it in school. that way I can ctrl + f certain passages for quotations, and crtl f recurring symbols etc.
makes school work easier

mera

12-04-2007, 07:51 PM

Portable & they take up less space :)

DyNast

12-08-2007, 08:21 AM

Portable & they take up less space :)
Books are much more "portabe" in that case
You can take a book everywhere (most of the times, anyway) but you can't take your PC anywhere :happy:

grimms

12-08-2007, 11:08 AM

Love ebooks. Nothing but endless knowledge 90% of the time. Love audiobooks as well but still prefer ebooks over them.

shurato

12-16-2007, 10:18 PM

I used to listen to audiobooks all the time during my hour long commute to work. After changing jobs, and having a 10 minute commute, it doesn't work so well.

wrongun92

12-17-2007, 12:50 AM

It depends on the book, if its just black and white with a bad font, then its very annoying/hard to read. It depends on the presentation of the ebook. Although, I would rather have something to hold. Even books have glare ;)

imapotato

12-30-2007, 04:28 AM

Sony Reader FTW

wmrawls

01-03-2008, 09:54 PM

Sony 505 I have had as many as 2100 e-books on it. Currently carry about 500. Very long battery life, easy on the eyes, when I travel internationally finding something to read in English can be problematic and I am a voracious reader. A wealth of free or almost free e-books in various formats are available on the net....well worth the initial investment. IMHO....

yuckfou

03-03-2009, 10:04 PM

I guess because theyre mostly free :D

Darth_Duane

03-09-2009, 05:52 PM

I like E-books because I read so damn fast and go through so many books that I ended up having to throw them away when i was done and I was spending a fortune on them.

I load them up on my PDA phone and read them that way. It's not the same experience as a real book, but it gets the job done. Plus it's self lighting so I can read in bed etc with no light.

Portable & they take up less space :)
Books are much more "portabe" in that case
You can take a book everywhere (most of the times, anyway) but you can't take your PC anywhere :happy:

That's assuming you are using a laptop. My PDA phone is more portable than a book and I've usually got several Ebooks on it.

iceman0113

03-10-2009, 03:58 PM

I don't think I'll ever be able to read an e-book all the way. The main reason is because they're free, most of them. A college textbook costs at least $150 now depending on the class. If it's an English class about $50 total. If it's econ, math, chem, etc be prepared to pay $150+ per book. But to each his own.

Dizzyboydizzy

03-11-2009, 04:06 AM

.....

Have none of yous never heard of teh Amazon Kindle?? it's the freakin' ipod of ebooks!!!

Kindle 2 just came out! DEFinitely gettin one!

Funkin'

03-11-2009, 10:26 AM

I never knew of the Sony Reader. I'll have to look into it. Read books or comics on the computer just sucks, I do it anyways though. But that pic of that Sony Reader posted a couple pages back looks great.

Actually that Amazon Kindle looks bad ass. A little pricey though.

UnGodly

03-11-2009, 02:14 PM

Ebooks are not a replacement for real books and never will be

iLOVENZB

03-13-2009, 09:34 AM

WildEyes on iPhone FTW

imapotato

03-16-2009, 01:13 AM

I am baffled by iceman0113's comment. How does a book's cost or lack thereof have any bearing on reading it all the way through? If it will make you feel better, you can give me $150 dollars every time you read an electronic book.

I have the Sony Reader (PRS-500), myself, and I love it. It's been great for the ~10 books I read on it over the past year or so. It's saved me many trips to the library. It's good for manga, too.

lll111

03-24-2009, 12:28 AM

The books are easier to carry around on my ipod.

bilkenter

03-24-2009, 12:39 PM

i got used to it, just turn off the brightness have an instant coffee, and read it all...also they are appealing cuz it is limitless, sometimes u can find the book u borrowed from library. So it kinda gives ya a chance to go back and read ya what you forget easily. Not to mention that not all books are in my country, for exp you cant find dummies how to play poker on my country...so it gives you access to all sorts of books cultures et cetera... that is why it is appealing...

the

04-24-2009, 10:30 AM

If a lot of my texts I use for university are available as ebooks I would not hesitate getting an ebook reader but that's not the case at the moment. Would save me a lot of weight, and easier to read whilst travelling, when I take long journeys travelling to and from my university. Some texts are also ridiculouly expensive and makes photocopying the whole books very tempting.

djerholler69

04-25-2009, 05:30 AM

well, with an ebook, i can ctrl-f to what i need to find immediately, without having to flip to the index and then flip to the many pages to find the correct context!

Seriost

06-08-2009, 02:06 PM

If you or someone you know works at an office follow these steps:
1. Download ebook (at home)
2. Stuff it into a stick
3. Work over schedule(the person at the office)
4. Print out the whole ebook
5. Read! (ITS SO AWSOME BECOUSE YOU CAN READ BANNED BOOKS LIKE ANARCHY COOKBOOK OR JACK THE RIPPA'S BOOK, MURDER INC.)

Qlix

06-27-2009, 09:47 PM

I don't like it and I never have... It needs PDF, printing out and it's just generally a pain. I rather buy the book/whatever in that case honestly. lol

iLOVENZB

06-27-2009, 11:55 PM

I don't like it and I never have... It needs PDF, printing out and it's just generally a pain. I rather buy the book/whatever in that case honestly. lol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PDF_software

promod

09-25-2009, 07:29 AM

The Irex iliad seems promising:

http://www.irextechnologies.com/products/bookedition
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/6018/iliadbefront.jpg
http://www.irextechnologies.com/irexdr1000
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/7317/irex10001.png

mygb

09-30-2009, 10:32 PM

Some books are soo expensive. Plus some come with a CD for learning or something so you can put it on your iPod and print off the pages you want to read or the whole thing.

kasuser

10-15-2009, 12:27 PM

Some books are soo expensive. Plus some come with a CD for learning or something so you can put it on your iPod and print off the pages you want to read or the whole thing.

and that is the key. ebooks are often too expensive for the value.

CountNewfie

10-20-2009, 06:22 AM

I`m in Japan on a study-abroad... hard to find cheap english books around here :P I read em out of necessity.

Canuck604

02-03-2010, 06:16 AM

The Ipad looks like its gonna make reading a E Book a lot better.

itsxamot

02-06-2010, 10:48 PM

im pretty sure it's the cost-savings and "affordability" of ebooks that make it appealing

i mean honestly, reading on a monitor or a screen sucks. i have yet to try an e-reader such as amazon's kindle, but i despise trying to read pages of text on the screen. it hurts my eyes:cry1:

Kysar

02-07-2010, 02:58 AM

I can't stand reading on the computer. Im fine for short articles ect, but when it comes to a book I just can't do it.

Fenomen

02-07-2010, 01:10 PM

Yes, it is way to hard to read on computer. I must have "material" in my hands in order to read properly and think.

I noticed that there is obsessive need of having a lot of e-books. Maybe, the one collecting it, thinks he/she reads them all with just only downloading it.

P.S. There is an interesting book by Thomas Hylland Eriksen: "Tyranny of the Moment: Fast and Slow Time in the Information Age". Some chapters are about our constant need to "have" knowledge rather than experiencing real learning process. As he said, it keeps us "informed" and "synchronized with actual happenings" in the world.

itsxamot

02-07-2010, 07:19 PM

HonorGuard

02-15-2010, 05:06 PM

I like having a real book in my hand trust me on that. But e-books are so appealing and you dont have to worry about the book pages geting old lol

dandraesley

04-15-2010, 12:54 PM

If I'm going to travel and want some books for time-wasting, I won't choose a bunch of books over handy e-books.

Of course, for serious reading, real hardcover books are the best.

Unthinkable

04-15-2010, 02:49 PM

i am not so interested in audiobooks, reading ebooks is very helpful to your brain

digimon

04-16-2010, 09:13 AM

still prefer conventional book ! lol

diceman89

06-23-2010, 07:57 PM

They're cheaper than real books, but that's all I can think of.

Stabber

06-23-2010, 10:35 PM

You can download them for free . Although is a pain to read on your pc monitor

buggyfresh

06-23-2010, 10:53 PM

I've been searching for the perfect solution. I've used a Palm treo 680 (decent), a blackberry javelin (good enough) and an ipod touch (best so far)..definitely using a laptop/PC is laborious - PDA/smartphones are the best bet.

That said the iPad looks like it will be gorgeously caonfy to read on, but also a bit unweildly?

They are appealing because they are free (or you can get them free anyway lol). I still prefer my paper book but then I once had 2 carton boxes full and couldn't afford to ship them when I moved and that was inconvenient! So that is something else - they don't weigh much do they!

CryBaby

06-29-2010, 09:39 PM

You need something with e-ink.
I'm still thinking about buying Kindle.
If I get a nice e-book reader I would only read e-books.
Still, I'm afraid to buy anything that is still new on the market.

yobplay

07-03-2010, 08:16 AM

dont like reading on computer...

justdrop

08-08-2010, 09:36 PM

more convenient being able to access books anywhere with an internet connection

RasToRizE

08-08-2010, 09:42 PM

i agree with you.. ebooks are real pain to read on pc monitor.. that is why i prefer audiobooks. they are much better cause you can also do somethng else while listenin to it

vthl

08-13-2010, 06:44 PM

yea but ebooks are free :P

bigdogg2020

08-22-2010, 07:27 PM

thats the new age buddy. Ipads love these as do many computer people who then do not have to buy books.

belabartok

09-05-2010, 04:12 AM

they are new, that's why they are appealing

gamesover

09-05-2010, 07:29 AM

Because it's something to do at school when I'm sitting on a computer pretending I'm working.

canuck32

09-11-2010, 08:53 PM

I like the fact that you can read anywhere, anytime. Since getting my ebook reader I have read 4-5x as many books just because it is so much more convenient to carry than a traditional book.

waseboke

09-15-2010, 05:48 AM

I can read ebooks anywhere I want

IdolEyes787

09-15-2010, 12:26 PM

Because it's "new" and "cool" and people buy into the marketing.
Added to that the fact that society is becoming both increasingly entitled and lazy .But seeing how the masses have bought into ( what's the opposite of life enriching?) cellphones I'm afraid that I've already lost that argument.

"I can read ebooks whenever I want":ermm: .Strangely I have found that I can also do that with the paper ones.Plus when I hold a "paper" book in my hands it is real and substantial .In a world of transitories that solidity is somehow comforting and I like that.

I suppose that there is a cost benefit if you don't use the Library and after you download enough to make up for the cost of the reader . Take a while though.

Other than that it saves room (especially when traveling ) and trees ( again although I'm sure that trees being still a renewable resource the environmental impact of the ebook readers plastic and mercury are infinitely worse) .:unsure:

sinman

09-15-2010, 02:38 PM

Only need to bring "one" book everywhere.

hulabula

09-18-2010, 11:17 AM

For me, because:

1. I can search and download ebooks within a minute and discard them immediately (if they don't serve their purposes) without losing anything
2. I can search the ebook itself using the search feature on acrobat/foxit/whatever
3. They make cross-referential research TOO easy lol. I mean think about referring to 13 open docs and 13 open books and you'll get what I mean.

littlepaulie

12-29-2010, 02:17 PM

i used to do ebooks but after some time i decided that im gonna be buying regular books i simply cant stand reading (too much) in front of a computer screen... it hurts my eyes

mollywogger

09-26-2011, 08:25 AM

why do i like my ebook reader?

Because I can put one book in my bag and have a whole library with me wherever I go.
I can read magazines, pdf's, text books, anything i like on it, and still only have the one book with me.
Its convenient when i have to wait for appointments, kids, husbands..
its awesome to read text books on, and saves holding 4 huge thick text books in your bag when going to class
It allows me to change my mind when i am bored of reading something, and want a change.

I dont think its an advertising gimmick.. i think its a welcome addition to my life that makes things easier :)

Glod

09-29-2011, 12:12 AM

I grew up with physical copies of books and continue to vastly prefer them over e-books. The tactile sensation of holding the book and manually flipping the pages somehow contributes to my enjoyment of reading, and the text itself is also far easier on the eyes. Certain e-book readers use e-ink, which helps, but I still find it less appealing.

Some other e-book disadvantages: formatting is of varying quality, jumping between pages is unintuitive, navigation is frustrating, and the process is altogether slower.

If I want to read a book, I'll just grab it off the shelf and be reading in under 10 seconds, with no issues. Lastly, the superior navigation encourages me to return to previous sections, which leads to greater understanding of the material and longer retention of information.

mollywogger

09-29-2011, 04:31 AM

I do agree about the tactile appeal of a book.. the love of a favourite old, weathered, dog earred timeless book, the smell as you turn the pages. You're right. there is that.

My kids school have just given us their book list for the year year next year in 2012. No.1 item is an Ipad 2 to be purchased through the school (ha). An electronic copy of their text books will then be provided to the students at a reduced fee. He's 13.

Oh how times change.

Startear

10-13-2011, 03:49 PM

I don't like ebooks but if it's the only way to get the book, fine I'll read it like that.

gnuCyclist

11-21-2011, 01:41 PM

You have access to a much larger array of books online and mainly because they're free.

Anonymau5

11-21-2011, 07:35 PM

My eyes hurt when I focus to much so I would rather print it out and read it @my bed.

JubbaTheHutt

12-01-2011, 12:55 AM

While I love the fee, touch, and smell of some physical copies of books, ever since I got an e-reader, I've fallen out of love with physical print.

temisturk

12-01-2011, 01:26 AM

I like to read and I really do like books. But I would like to try an ebook reader because I imagine that they would be convenient, I could just download any book I wanted any time I wanted it which is easier and cheaper than going to a bookshop or a library. Also I only read things once and my bookcase is full. But they still cost too much for me.

Al_X

12-09-2011, 01:28 AM

As a physics student, my reading mostly concerns Physics and Math. The ebook format is great in the way that the books become searchable. Instead of having to browse through the book page by page analysing each page for a specific term, I can simply search it out. Another GREAT advantage is that I only need my iPad, no more carrying 3kg of books+laptop in a shoulder bag leaving my entire body skew for the rest of the day.