Will you mourn the loss of books made from paper?

There are still billions of paper books already out there, so no I won’t miss them.

<puts fingers in ears and shuts eyes> it’s not going to happen! it’s not going to happen!

yes, I’d miss them so I’m hoarding them or so my hubby thinks

Fuck no, what @everephebe said. Besides, if it does happen, then good riddance to deforestation and destroying natural habitats just to print the shitty twilight/harry potter books.

I am more than happy to save the trees, but yes, there’s something wonderful about a book in the hands that I’ll miss if I live long enough that they fall out of use.

Um, they are really annoying!! I have a Kindle, and I guess it’s great for having a lot of books on one small device. But honestly? I definitely prefer paper books. They always gave me a sense of how much I had already read in the book and how much I had left to go. Haha, and I love the smell of books…I’m weird like that…
@Michael_Huntington I totally agree with you!

Eh, what comes comes, what goes goes, not a problem to me.

I will miss them. I have electronic books as well, but I really love the feel of an actual book. Although the other half of me thinks its great to move from paper books seeing as it’s environmentally conscious.

I asked a question similar to this a while back. My answer is the same, you can’t beat the smell & feel of a good book. Every crease & crack gives it character. I love the sound of a crisply turned page.

I think we may be a bit over-reactionary to think that ebooks will wipe out paper books. I prefer reading books for pleasure (think more The Da Vinci Code or Harry Potter) on my ereader. But for school, or work, or anything where I plan on taking notes, it has to be paper. And far, far too man simply prefer reading paper books to really get rid of them.

I’m beginning to wonder if anyone has read my details to this question. That’s more an observation and less a complaint.

I doubt I’ll live to see the day when paper books are entirely replaced by e-books. I don’t have an electronic book and I probably won’t ever get one.

Personally, I hate electronic books… nook, and kindle, and all that crap (and yes, I have used them, so nobody give me that “lolol dont knock it til you try it lolol” spiel). There is a sensual maybe even vaguely sexual element to books that I enjoy. They feel nice, they smell good, and they look good sitting on a shelf. This sterilization of consumer products (i.e., making them all white with a single button or logo on them cough, apple, cough) is so soulless, in my view, and this applies to e books as well. Nothing beats the aesthetics and old school charm of a sagging shelf of books.

I know I’m hardly alone with my point of view.

@hawaii_jake I read your details…honest!

I don’t have an electronic book, I’m not sure I want to either. Yes, I think I definitley will miss and mourn the loss of paper books. I collect some books and I don’t get a feeling like holding a book in hand anywhere else, whatever I do. They’re precious.

I do not have an electronic book and am not planning to get one. I do enjoy curling up with a book . Turning pages is part of the sensuality of reading a book. I also like illustrations like woodcuts or etchings and it’s not the same just seeing them on a screen, somehow. @winstonchurchill suggests being able to see how far you’ve come and how far you have to go. I like to be able to do that. If i use an electronic book does that mean I can’t go back and check something I had read earlier or to see the cast of characters if there is one?

@Sunny2 : I don’t have an electronic book, but from what I’ve seen, you can scroll through the pages just like a paper book. So yes, you would be able to go back and find a previous passage to read again.

I work in a combo, second hand/book and river/camping store in my area and love the old book section, it is hard for me to be arranging the books and not start reading. haha

I doubt paper books will ever go ‘out of style’. At least not in my lifetime..which is getting shorter. haha

I like books made of paper far better than anyting electronic.There is nothing like the feel of a good book in your hands.

I have a Kindle and I love it. That being said, there are some books I wouldn’t get for the Kindle because I still want the print version. I have various series that I’ve started and I plan to continue those in print. I enjoy holding the actual books in my hand and that’s just not the same with the Kindle. I’d be sad if paper books became obsolete (though I don’t see it happening any time soon).

I don’t think we’ll ever see the end of traditional books. But I would certainly miss them if they disappeared. I can’t read novels on e books or on the PC. Electronic reading has its benefits I’m sure. But when I wanna curl up in the couch on a rainy night and read Victorian ghost stories, I imagine that I won’t be able to get into it so much if I were holding some electronic…there’s just this thing about books, not sure what. This magic thing that really gets me into it.

Miss paper books? No. I think we need to get rid of paper books. I have a book called cradle to cradle that is all about how we can redesign stuff to be more eco friendly and such. The book is made out of some sort of recycled polymer. Its great because the book in turn is near indestructible and water proof. I think we need more books like this.

As far as teh whole electronic book thing goes, I cant do it. Ive read some stuff on kindles and iPads before and its nice and all but I need to feel the damn thing in my hands, need to be able to turn the page and it seems to hurt my eyes after a while looking at the screen, even the kindle that looks practically like a piece of paper.

I love my Nook, although I resisted for years. It was a gift from my sister so I had to deal with the damned thing. That said, I still love the paper for all the reasons stated above, but I recently traveled, and taking 40 books along in one device was very handy. And buying just released new titles of things I want to read but don’t want to handle the hardcovers (small arthritic hands) for less than half price was definitely a plus.

A common question and my answers are still:
No, n/a, no, it will never happen.

Paper books will always be ther so I will not have to mourn them even when I am unplugged from the matrix.

At first I was very sad about the advent of e-readers. The reactionary part of me said, “Nnnnoooooo! But the smell of books… and, and, books have been like this for centuries, and the spirit of books is ruined!”

Then I thought about all the trees that won’t be cut down every year due to the increasing popularity of e-readers, and that that’s a far more valuable thing than “books smell and feel good” and the logical side of me realized it was a very, very good thing.

@hawaii_jake But do you have go one page at a time? You may not know, but perhaps someone who owns one will have and answer?

@Sunny2 I can tell you that with a Kindle, you can skip around however you’d like (it’s actually easier than with a paper book because you can do a search for a particular phrase you’re trying to find). You can also tell how far into the book you are, and how much is left. A bar on the bottom of the screen shows what percentage of the book you have read.

Not necessarily.

I’m learning to enjoy e-books and I absolutely love audiobooks.

@Mariah Thank you. I may try it someday.

A book made from paper is simply amazing. Leaf through the pages of a book and you will feel it. ebooks are great and nice but they can never replace the charm and feel of holding a paperback edition in hand and poring through the printed pages.

I’m an ereader convert.

At first, I thought nothing could ever replace reading from a book; I imagined that reading from a device would be like reading from a computer screen. In fact, I even tried reading a few books on my old Palm Tungsten PDA. The letters were pixellated and “turning the page” was awkward. Plus my eyes felt funny afterward. The Sony Reader PRS500, however, completely changed my mind. It looked like paper! The letters were clear, the contrast was good (close to newspaper print) and you even needed an external light source to read. Just like a real book.

As a teen, I read voraciously but found myself slowing down in my twenties (I wasn’t conscious of it at the time). When I got that first Sony Reader, I started consuming books again. It was very convenient to use; it’s easy to operate one handed with your thumb on the “next page” button, so it’s easy to read while on the can, walking down the street, working out or eating. Easier than a real book. And I think there are a certain class of people, myself included, who are lazy in certain situations because it is convenient to do so. When it becomes more convenient to act differently, they change their actions accordingly. Hence, once reading became more physically convenient for me, I started to do it more.

And the latest Sony Reader model, the PRS650, has a screen far superior to my old model, making reading even easier on the eyes.

Still, I love physical books and, in recent years, have fallen into the habit of reading a book on my ereader first and buying the dead-tree edition if I really liked it (though there are some books that just don’t work electronically, like House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski).

One final note: when it comes to the physical space you’re saving, there’s no comparison. I bought a new bookshelf a couple of years ago and have acquired enough books that the bookshelf is overflowing. Meanwhile, I’ve acquired about ten times more electronic books in the same time period (perhaps even more than that) and you don’t feel the space they take up on your hard drive.

I am not planning on losing them. I will continue to add to my library and to take pleasure in print and print design and will will my 1000 lb plus library with specialties in art history, archaeology, philosophy, comparative religion, psychology and anthropology [as well as collectible books, biography, history, notable fiction etc] to my heirs to take as they see fit. When I can no longer see to read [books or web], then I will resort to talking books.

My eyes are now compromised by a variety of surgeries and some reading situations have become impossible. If I found that a kindle would make it easier to read on a treadmill [which I can no longer do] I might get one.

I like the convenience of getting ebooks instantly. Especially if I want an out of print title or something my local bookstore doesn’t stock. I hate waiting when I have that urge that “I must have it now!”

The one thing that concerns me is that more publishers will build in expirations on the e-files. Something that’s reminiscent of what Jasper Fforde predicted with The Thrice Read Rule where the file will destroy itself after being opened a limited number of times.

Once I buy my paper book, it’s mine forever and I can do what I want with it. Reread it, loan it out, use it to prop up the uneven pool table leg, etc.

@Blueroses FWIW, any time publishers come out with some kind of restriction or expiration, people find a way around it really, really quickly. So they might want it to destroy after 3 readings, but that doesn’t mean you won’t have it anymore after 3 readings.

@MyNewtBoobs Yes, I know it takes about 30 seconds to hack through security for some people – and if I paid good money for an ebook I’d probably learn to become one of them – I was only saying I don’t ever have to go through that hassle with my paper books, so I would miss them. Plus, the ebook is no help at all in leveling my pool table.

@Blueroses How many effing paper books does this table need? ;)

I highly doubt it, but I will buy the shit out of used book stores when this finally happens. I will miss my trusty pen and paper, though.. Fuck keyboards and word processors …

I love everything about physical books… the smell, the way they feel, the different textures of the paper used in different books, the weight of it in my hands, the way they live on my bookshelves and in haphazard stacks, giving my rooms much of their character. I honestly don’t know how I’d live without them.

I would also love to have an e-reader, and suspect I will within the year. One of my daughters got a Kindle for Christmas, and that thing is flippin’ awesome. Just the idea of being able to lug hundreds of books around with me wherever I go is thrilling!

I’m 100% certain that I’ll still buy ‘real’ books even after I have an e-reader. I’ll always want my favorite books to have a physical presence in my life. I also collect antique educational books just because I love them. They are a kind of art, to me. No e-reader will ever replace that.

I have an ebook reader and I LOVE it. It fits neatly in the inside pocket of my jacket, it’s thinner than even the thinnest paperback, and the best part is I can enlarge the text as much as I need so I can actually read it comfortably. I would have ALL my books in e-format if I could.

Beautiful answer @augustlan. I feel the same. We have a large collection of books we’ll never get rid of (it is a rule in our house. You can throw anything away except books). My grandfather was an avid reader and we acquired his collection when he passed away. We have our own little library. We’ll have nothing to mourn here.

I wouldn’t mind an ebook, but it’s not a priority at the moment.

How much does an e-book cost? And do you have to pay for the books too? How does that work?

@Sunny2 : I’ve seen e-readers advertised from $114 (Kindle) to over $300 (Sony Reader). Yes, you pay for each book you buy, but they’re usually cheaper than the cost of a regular book.

@hawaii_jake Thank you. I think I have to stick to library books for the time being.

@Sunny2 Exactly what @hawaii_jake said, but adding that there are tons of free ebooks out there (I’m talking about books that are older than their copyright and are now in the free domain, not ones you pirate). So you can read all of Dickens and Shakespeare for free.

I’ve got about thirty books on my kindle and I’ve only paid for two of them. The most expensive of the two was nearly £2. All the rest have been free downloads from Amazon or other sites. It’s not just old out-of-copyright classics either. There are plenty of writers who have released new stuff for free (often book 1 of a trilogy). Also Kindles are not limited to their own format, you can read pretty much anything except a sony-format book on a kindle.

@MyNewtBoobs Thank you. Good to know. Where do you go to get them?

@Sunny2 Project Gutenberg has a nice collection. The rest I pick up when I have an title in mind. You can also read any of the books on Project Gutenberg on your computer.

@MyNewtBoobs Thank you. I’ll make a note of that.
@downtide Thanks for the recommendations.

I like my e-reader a lot. There are some distinct advantages:
1. Cost—You can build a respectable little e-library on the cheap as @downtide says.
2. Portability—I no longer have to lug a suitcase full of heavy books with me whenever I go on vacation. Also, I can buy as many books as I want and not worry about finding space to put them in my house.
3. Formatting—You can adjust the text to any size you want. No more squinting over tiny print in some paper books.

With that said, I would be devastated if paper books ever disappeared. I still keep hard copies of several of my favorite books, partly for the tactile sensation of holding a book in my hand and being able to look at the pages to see how far along I am in the story. And on a more practical level, paper books don’t require a power source to recharge them every few days or weeks. I like my e-reader but it wouldn’t be much use to me if the power went out or if I was marooned on a desert island.

Amazon also has a huge library of free books online and a free version of the Kindle reader for the PC.

something in its simplest form like a book will never have to be grieved!

I have owned a Kindle for about 6 months and love it. I find it easier to read from the flat Kindle page than the curved page of a paperback and I have about 60 titles downloaded so I will never be stuck for something to read as long as I have my Kindle with me.

I also have a physical collection of books and I still buy paperback and hardbacks. I hope books don’t go the way of the CD, and I don’t think they will.

considering that Vinyl recordings have never died, I think it speaks a bit about how the truer form will survive

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard Well said, very well said.

I prefer real books. E-books are not books to me.

@Mikewlf337 : I, too, prefer the paper books. I was given a Nook for Christmas by a sister determined to change my mind, and I must admit that against my better judgement I love that little gadget. I love it as an addition to regular books, not instead of regular books. I recently had to make a sudden trip out of town, and I was delighted that I could take the series I was reading in one unit and not have to cram 3 or 4 books into an already overloaded carry-on bag. It has its advantages, and after all, a book is really about the words and not the format.

@JilltheTooth I would rathe spend more money on a hardback. I love reading hardbacks. Just something about seeing my progress in my left hand and what I have left to read in my right hand. I also love the fact that it is a primitive form of entertainment.

@Mikewlf337 : I agree with you (except about the hardback part, too difficult for me to handle) but I’d rather be reading than not, and the convenience can be a factor sometimes.

Alice in Zombieland just wouldn’t be the same on an e book.