This is a debate that has raged since the rise of digital books. For a while there was a fear of the death of print. Then again, people have been fearing the death of reading itself since even before that. No matter how many times news sources use catchy terms to convince us, the demise of the written word is always greatly exaggerated. Instead, we find ourselves with a blend of both digital and print these days.
But which one is better? I've had both for years. My love of books exploded when I was about, I think, twelve? One of the first books I ever officially remember "owning" was in 1997 (I was ten years old at that time). I have also owned a Kindle Fire of one type or another for 4-5 years now which is why I will be using it specifically as an example. I used to be vehemently pro-print but I find myself switching over to a preference of digital as time goes on. So here, now, are my own personal observations.
Large print
I'm finding that, as I get older, either text is shrinking or my eyes can't focus as well. Even as I write this with my glasses on and my desktop monitor I find the text too small. I'm zooming in to 125% just so that I don't have to perpetually squint (handy tip: hold down Control and then use your mouse's wheel to adjust the text size.) I know, I know, you're thinking, "People still use desktops!?"
 |
| Actual photo of my computer that you're scoffing at right now. |
With a regular book you're stuck with the print size unless you specifically buy large print editions, which you have to shell out extra dough for if a version even exists. Meanwhile, on a Kindle, you can change the print size from "Are those even words or just lines?" level of small to a massive "holy crap it's only 3 words per page."
Lighting
I have many memories of long road trips with books in tow. I would sit in the back seat and stubbornly keep trying to read as the light outside would grow dimmer and dimmer as the sun began to set, eventually giving up, closing the book with a satisfying snap, and succumbing to boredom.
I have attempted to read by flickering candlelight in the event of a power outage several times as well, when it's dark outside and the only other option is Monopoly.
I've been tucked away in bed, ceiling light glaring across the pages of a book, as I stay awake for just one chapter (I've never had one of those bedside table lamps.)
Hands down, the lighting feature of a Kindle wins in this regard. You have many more options and places to read when the page itself can light up. These days I pretty much only read books in the dark. These days you can make it even better with white text on a black background and a blue light filter so it doesn't affect your sleep cycle. So far I've been lauding the Kindle However. it comes a drawback, that being the...
Battery
Yes, the pro-print fandom's primary example of why print books will always be superior. I can't really argue against this point much.
Dictionary
It's great to be able to tap a word in an ebook and know exactly what it means instead of stumbling over words like cacophony, aggrandizing, dichotomy, or the words I just used being lauding and vehemently.
 |
| "Lauding" in Google Images only came up with politics, so here's a corgi ship. |
Bad Covers
Hahahahaha! Oh my God if you want a good time look up "bad sci fi book covers" it was absolutely impossible to find the truly best of the worst in the lot. I picked this one because it's from the only author I recognized.
While I've given it a little thought, I didn't really actively realize this advantage until I stumbled across it in my reading of "ebook vs print" and read
this. She makes an incredibly good point about book covers.
Anyway, the point is, you don't have a bad cover facing the rest of the world if you ever crack open a book, and I
know you've read some books with embarrassing covers on them.
Portability
It's easy to bring a small paperback on your travels with you except, if you read like me, you finish it quickly and then have nothing to read anymore, and that's not even taking into the account the whole light problem I mentioned previously. I've brought as many as four or five books on a trip. It starts to get really cumbersome after two, and let's not forget if they get damaged. I take very good care of my books and even a single ding on them is heart-wrenching (but we'll get back to that later...) With a Kindle you've got tons of books in a small format that is incredibly portable. Speaking of tons let's not forget...
Weight
Along with portability, this is a big pro-point in the eReading fandom.
I moved when I was 10, then again at 18, and again at about 25, and again about a year ago. In another year there are plans to have a new house built which means moving once again. I can't guarantee it but I will probably be moving at least several more times in my life.
Holy bulging spinal disc, Batman!
Have you ever picked up a box full of books and moved them? Great, now multiply that by 10. Now add in the comic books which, based on their weight, is made by combining osmium, dark matter, and solid gold. You ever pick up just five volumes of The Walking Dead? I packed my comic books in a dozen tiny boxes because any larger and the strain of moving them would have violated some sort of Geneva Convention rules.
This, more than anything else, has motivated me to primarily switch to ebooks. I just have too many books, and if you've moved as many as I have just as often, you really start to question why you're still keeping half of them around.
Post-Apocalyptic Reading
Okay, so that may be a little exaggerated, I know. Everything thinks it though. How in the world are you going to have access to your ebooks once technology ends? Let's be honest though, the chance to read will probably be few and far between, and there will be plenty of books still left in the world. It's not like, once you buy an ebook, you're no longer allowed to buy it in print or, in the event of a post-apocalyptic scenario, raid a brick and mortar bookstore with your barbarian friends.
Price
I've talked previously about the
price of Kindle books and I still stand my ground when I say print is king in terms of prices most of the time.
But when it's not?
Oh man...
Price is what got me writing this particular post in the first place.
Less than two weeks ago I got into Comixology. It's one of the largest distributors of digital comics if not
the biggest at this point (they were purchased by Amazon only a couple of years ago.) Their prices are comparable to print except they had a publisher's sale on Image comics, which happens to include The Walking Dead, so we're going to use it as our example.
I bought all three Walking Dead compendiums for 50 bucks. To me the massive compendiums are awkward and, being paperback, are prone to damage, but in digital form that's not a factor. So, 50 bucks is a lot, right? Well, let me break it down for you. Keep in mind this is the combines price for
all three compendiums. This is, narratively speaking, well into the introduction of Negan, this is #1-#144
I paid: $50
Original digital price: $98.81
Paperback price: $120.23
However, as I said, I don't like large compendiums, I prefer volumes, so let's throw in the price of those. I'm feeling lazy and don't feel like tallying the individual prices of each one, but the compendiums cover volumes 1-24. Assuming it's about $10 per volume that's $240.
What I'm getting at is that, with digital books, you have to bide your time and be patient, but it pays off unlike anything you could possibly manage with print books.
Oh, and since we're on the subject of comics...
Comic Book Layout
I just gotta give a couple of cents here really quick. I've read both digital and print comics and there are two things I just gotta point out.
One: nothing is better than seeing a full comic spread in print form. On my tiny little 8' Kindle it just doesn't cut it, some of the magic is lost. You know, kind of like this:
Do you have any idea how awesome that shot is in full size!?
Two:
Comixology's Guided View is one of the best things ever. I mentioned above the whole large print thing for books, this is almost the comic equivalent. Another thing is that my eyes have a bad habit of darting ahead, even in regular books, but with the guided view it keeps me from any spoilers.
Anyway, back to books.
Damage to books
I've damaged books before.
Sometimes I'm moving an armful, they have slippery covers, and the top half of the stack just...
Falls.
To the floor.
One of two things happens: I instinctively crouch to catch them, causing more of the armful to tumble down, or I stare on in horror with the knowledge that there is nothing I can do to stop it.
Oh God.
Oh my God.
I've hurt my books
I've murdered them.
I gently put the books I'm still holding down and do some damage assessment. Most of the time it's non-existent. Although occasionally I'll end up with a dinged corner in a hardback. But, horror of horrors, occasionally I end up with a folded over corner on a paperback cover.
More frequently is when I lift the book off the shelf faster than I'm pulling it out and it slams into the next shelf above. I've cringed at that. Have you ever thumped a book against something an said "ouch!" by accident, as though it were a part of you? Yeah, I've done that way too often.
I put way too much stock in the pristine condition of my books, but let's be honest, nothing lasts forever. Entropy is a harsh mistress. Even if I keep my books in perfect condition and let no one else read or even touch them there is still the potential damage from so many things. Mold could grow on them from buying an infested book, I'm not sure but I think it sorta spreads to uninfected books? Like a book plague? Same for silverfish or
bedbugs. My basement could flood (I've lost a couple of books a long time ago that way), my house could burn down. Heck, sunlight and fireplace heat are slowly breaking them down.
I'm getting off track, basically what I'm saying is that you can't damage a digital book.
When You Buy a Bad Book
Sometimes you just get a bad book. It sucks. Whether you finish it or not, suddenly you have this awful book floating around your house. You certainly can't throw it in the garbage, people can't even throw away books that
need to be thrown away.
 |
| See? |
If you're lucky you can sell it, or donate it so long as it's not an instructional book about Windows 95 or something. Digital books I dislike? Heck I rarely bother to delete them from my library, they're so minimally in my way.
"The Feeling of Holding it in Your Hand"
I know, everyone dreams of that Beauty and the Beast library:
A lot of pro-print people talk about the feeling of a real book in your hand, that sense of completion, the beauty of your books on your shelves.
I remember a reading a webcomic a few years back where one of the characters was boasting about owning every single Terry Pratchett book...in ebook form. The joke was basically how the accomplishment was really diminished. (I would post it here, but it has since been lost among the chaff of the Internet. I could have sworn it was xkcd though.)
I used to be there in that same mindset too, but now I see it as overly romanticized. Since my last move I've taken more of a different attitude towards my print collection. These days my print books are like Navy SEALS: They are the best of the best. Only the finest books make it into the print collection. By doing so it allows those books to shine. To see my bookshelf now is to see my own personal set of what I consider classics.
Keeping books you don't ever plan to read again (or even read at all) for visual appeal is nothing more than ego stroking.
But have you seriously ever really moved that many books before!?
