In the end they can and will coexist. Peacefully or not. I've argued before in defense of e-books and in defense of print books. I still think the pricing and ownership issues in e-book publishing need tweaking before we've reached common ground. But I admit I've owned an e-reader for the past few months, and it's fabulous. More than anything I've found it's great to read free classics in the public domain. Try hauling around Les Miserables, "the brick," in print and you'll see what I mean. And the local public library has a great selection of freebies on Overdrive as well.
So let's call a truce and agree that as long as we access either format responsibly (and with a conscious mind of where our dollars are going), how you're reading those words doesn't really matter, as long as you're reading them.
Side note: I reread my "in defense" posts, and...what has happened to me? I used to be funny? Who knew. I turned 27 and lost all my joy.
Great post. I was just thinking today about how many ebooks I actually read in the past year. Not many. I have two ereaders! I really should read some of those selections on my ereaders.I also find that for long nonfiction selections, I prefer a physical book. For fast-paced fiction, I like my ereader.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Heidi! I prefer reading long non-fiction on paper as well, but love reading long fiction on an e-reader. Not sure why! It's an unexplainable preference.
DeleteI've read a few ebooks, I prefer print when I can get it though. If it's non-fiction and science-related then I'm okay with an ebook. Paper just feels good in the hands. I say lets end all the rainforests and go back to all print.
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