• Do people still read physical books?
    139 replies, posted
[QUOTE=ejonkou;51982165]None of the arguments you gave make much sense and can easily be applied to e-books aswell. I charge my Kindle like once every couple of weeks while I sleep, the battery lasts forever on those things. I've never been in a position where I'm like "oh shit, my charge is about to run out" and if I ever ended up in a situation like that, low battery means you several hours of constant use left before the battery actually runs out.[/quote] The fact you have to charge it at all is the problem. I don't have to charge my books at all. I literally just open them and go. Don't need to remember to plug them in occasionally. [quote]And I own my books whenever I download/buy them, I don't simply buy a license[/quote] Simply put, WRONG. [Quote=Forbes]According to Amazon's Kindle Store terms of use, "Kindle content is licensed, not sold". Should you attempt to break the DRM security block or transfer your purchase to another device, Amazon may legally "revoke your access to the Kindle Store and the Kindle Content without refund of any fees."[/quote] [url]https://www.forbes.com/sites/suwcharmananderson/2012/10/23/amazon-ebooks-are-borrowed-not-bought/#621fb0f76c11[/url] [Quote=NBC News]This fine print will always have a clause that says you are a mere tenant farmer of your books, and not their owner, and your right to carry around your "purchases" (which are really conditional licenses, despite misleading buttons labeled with words like "Buy this with one click" — I suppose "Conditionally license this with one click" is deemed too cumbersome for a button) can be revoked without notice or explanation (or, notably, refund) at any time.[/quote] [url]http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/you-dont-own-your-kindle-books-amazon-reminds-customer-1c6626211[/url] This EBooks.com's customer license for example. [quote=Ebooks.com] Our ebooks are sold under license from book publishers. An important condition of the licence is that, when you buy an ebook from eBooks.com, it can only be used by one individual. Lending and sharing is not permitted. It is not permitted to buy one copy of an ebook and then load it onto multiple devices for several people to use. Nor can you load a book onto a device and then pass the device on to multiple individuals one after another. If you buy an ebook and give it to another person, it is theirs to keep for life. But they may not then lend or share it with another user. If you want to provide, say, 20 copies of an ebook to 20 people, you will need to pay for 20 copies, and then distribute the ebooks to the 20 people. (We'll show you how.)[/quote] You do not have any ownership of the ebooks you buy. Ever. [quote]I have my entire library of thousands of books backed up on a thumb drive, my PC HDD and on Dropbox and they take up a ridiculously small amount of space. If I wanted to I could put a ton of books on my thumb drive and I would be able to walk around with a library larger than the Great Library of Alexandria in my pocket. Taking up significantly less space than a single book.[/quote] Will you still have access to all of that in 10 years? 20 years? 50 years? Do you practically need to actually carry all those books around at once? I find myself reading only 2 or 3 books at a time, and surprise enough my shoulder bag is more than enough to carry those with me. You don't need to carry 50 thousand books with you. [quote]No need for storage space; ability to store thousands of books in a small space, easy to backup and sync between devices.[/quote] This is the only point you have but is also negated by things like Libraries and book exchange programs. You could also buy smaller copies of books if storage space is truly an issue. [quote]- Less susceptible to damage; While files can be corrupt, mobi/pdf/epub etc. files take up a very small amount of space making it easy to keep several backups. If your file is damaged without backup, you can easily find it again in one of many online libraries available.[/quote] What exactly is a kindle resistant to that a book isn't? Your kindle gets damaged in the same was as any book. I'd bet however, that regular books are more resistant to cracking/being smashed against things/falls than a kindle is. [quote]Significantly cheaper than actually buying a physical book. You pay $100 for your Kindle(you can find other, solid options for less)[/quote] Support your local businesses and book shops and you'll find books cheap as hell. Also depends on the book and when it was published, and also where you're buying. For example, "The Somme" by Peter Hart. On Amazon the Kindle version is $9.99. Used Hardcover is $3.25. Used paperback is $11.89. I got it from a local used book place for 6 bucks. Original price was $35. There are book exchange programs, libraries, and countless other ways to get books for cheap. [quote]Able to change fontsize depending on your preference and reading requirement. My grandmother's eyesight is very poor and she was overjoyed when she got given her first e-book by my dad and found out that she could make the font size significantly larger making it easier for her to read.[/quote] [t]https://cdn.instructables.com/FZ8/QC1F/GYUQTJ9M/FZ8QC1FGYUQTJ9M.MEDIUM.jpg[/t] These exist and are very handy. [quote]Don't understand what that word means? You can highlight it and find out it's definition.[/quote] [t]https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51V142mXicL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg[/t] Context clues also exist. In my experience with my fingers highlighting is an imprecise and annoying exercise. [quote]Really great if you're trying to read a book that's not your native langue, a book with a advanced vocabulary or if you're trying to learn a new language.[/quote] Maybe it's just because I have background in a dead language but I can pick up what a sentence means when it's in another language through context clues of what I do already know based on what I've already learned/that language's relation to Attic Greek/Latin. Granted that only really works for the Romantic Languages and Languages that borrowed from the Romantics, but if you've got the toolset it's not really a problem. [quote]Great if you're sharing a dorm with another person or sleep in the same bad with an SO. No need to keep a bedside lamp on.[/quote] [url]https://www.amazon.com/Stage-LED202R-Clip-LED-Light/dp/B0075DNRUA[/url] Red LED Clip on lights should be your best friend if that's the case. [quote]you can't deny that an e-book is superior.[/QUOTE] Well, they aren't superior. Physical books and media are.
I read most of my literature intake in hardcopy form; just feels better IMO and is nice to have around despite having near-constant internet access and electricity.
[QUOTE=bdd458;51982711]The fact you have to charge it at all is the problem. I don't have to charge my books at all. I literally just open them and go. Don't need to remember to plug them in occasionally. [/QUOTE] Fair enough, I guess that's just the price you gotta pay. [QUOTE]Simply put, WRONG. This EBooks.com's customer license for example. You do not have any ownership of the ebooks you buy. Ever.[/QUOTE] This is a non-issue for me for reasons I won't get into, but you can probably work out. [QUOTE] Will you still have access to all of that in 10 years? 20 years? 50 years?[/QUOTE] Yes? All the world's USB ports, hard drives, internet connections, etc. aren't going to disappear overnight. If some change in technology makes a current storage method obsolete, there will be a large window of opportunity to transfer your ebooks to that new media. It'd literally be as simple as clicking and dragging. Same goes for file formats; there are already converters today to convert your ebooks between every ebook format. [QUOTE] Do you practically need to actually carry all those books around at once? I find myself reading only 2 or 3 books at a time, and surprise enough my shoulder bag is more than enough to carry those with me. You don't need to carry 50 thousand books with you.[/QUOTE] As the saying goes; it's better to have something and not need it than to need it and not have it. Especially since they're completely weightless. [QUOTE] This is the only point you have but is also negated by things like Libraries and book exchange programs. You could also buy smaller copies of books if storage space is truly an issue. [/QUOTE] What is convenience? I don't need to walk/drive/wait for shipping to get an ebook. Especially if no local places carry that book anyways. [QUOTE]What exactly is a kindle resistant to that a book isn't? Your kindle gets damaged in the same was as any book. I'd bet however, that regular books are more resistant to cracking/being smashed against things/falls than a kindle is.[/QUOTE] The reader itself isn't more resistant, the file is. Sure, a tablet might fall off a table but a file can be copied and backed up infinitely many times with trivial effort. And you don't need to deal with missing/torn pages or other physical damage. [QUOTE] Support your local businesses and book shops and you'll find books cheap as hell. Also depends on the book and when it was published, and also where you're buying. For example, "The Somme" by Peter Hart. On Amazon the Kindle version is $9.99. Used Hardcover is $3.25. Used paperback is $11.89. I got it from a local used book place for 6 bucks. Original price was $35. There are book exchange programs, libraries, and countless other ways to get books for cheap. [/QUOTE] Again, convenience. There's no guarantee any local places are gonna have what you're looking for and even if a physical copy is cheaper online/in store, you still need to deal with its disadvantages. [QUOTE] These exist and are very handy.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE]Context clues also exist. In my experience with my fingers highlighting is an imprecise and annoying exercise.[/QUOTE] And yet again, convenience. Sure, you could carry both of those around or at least have them nearby, but it's much easier to have something with those functions built in. [QUOTE] Maybe it's just because I have background in a dead language but I can pick up what a sentence means when it's in another language through context clues of what I do already know based on what I've already learned/that language's relation to Attic Greek/Latin. Granted that only really works for the Romantic Languages and Languages that borrowed from the Romantics, but if you've got the toolset it's not really a problem.[/QUOTE] Sure, but not everyone has that background. I can reliably guess what a word means most of the time, but a child or a non-native speaker would have a tougher time at it. And sometimes I make mistakes. [QUOTE] Red LED Clip on lights should be your best friend if that's the case. [/QUOTE] What was that about things needing to be charged? [sp]Yes I know they're button cell powered, but still.[/sp] [QUOTE] Well, they aren't superior. Physical books and media are.[/QUOTE] I guess it just depends on what you're looking for in the end. I want convenience, and ebooks give me it.
:snip: most of it, because jesus christ im being passive aggressive over books of all things, but I will leave this: Ebooks lack character. Every used book I buy has a story to tell. My copy of [I]Poilu[/I] had once been a gift to a couple on their 50th Anniversary of their marriage, a note in the front saying as much. The notes in my used textbooks, where students before me have studied. The markings and beat up state of a 1916 British Army Signalling Manual telling the story of a man who had been at war, and graciously left his name, serial number, and regiment about 3 or 4 times in the book, along with various underlinings and notes. The stains tell me that it was used vigorously, kept on his person. We know so much more about the Odyssey than we would have, had ancient Scholars not marked their copies, and then had their illiterate slaves (i think?) copy everything down (and they were illiterate so they did not know those markings were just notes questioning parts of the story, structure, etc...). A book wouldn't be a book if it didn't have "physical damage", it tells a tale that ebooks simply can not. I wish I could find this poem I read ages about this, and the magic and wonder and stories that stains and other blemishes in a book tell, and why that's special.
[QUOTE=bdd458;51984073]:snip: most of it, because jesus christ im being passive aggressive over books of all things, but I will leave this: Ebooks lack character. Every used book I buy has a story to tell. My copy of [I]Poilu[/I] had once been a gift to a couple on their 50th Anniversary of their marriage, a note in the front saying as much. The notes in my used textbooks, where students before me have studied. The markings and beat up state of a 1916 British Army Signalling Manual telling the story of a man who had been at war, and graciously left his name, serial number, and regiment about 3 or 4 times in the book, along with various underlinings and notes. The stains tell me that it was used vigorously, kept on his person. We know so much more about the Odyssey than we would have, had ancient Scholars not marked their copies, and then had their illiterate slaves (i think?) copy everything down (and they were illiterate so they did not know those markings were just notes questioning parts of the story, structure, etc...). A book wouldn't be a book if it didn't have "physical damage", it tells a tale that ebooks simply can not. I wish I could find this poem I read ages about this, and the magic and wonder and stories that stains and other blemishes in a book tell, and why that's special.[/QUOTE] I don't see how e-books lack character. My Kindle was given to me by my father on my 19th birthday, and I'll probably keep it long after the device has died and I've moved on to another e-book simply because it has sentimental value for me. In 20, 40, 60 years I'll be able to dig it up and it will serve as a reminder of my father, and all of the hundreds of wonderful worlds I've had the opportunity to explore, which, if I had to track down a physical copy of every book I've read, I wouldn't have. You use the Odyssey as an example. If the Ancient Greeks had the opportunity to back up all of their litterature in the cloud, we would have had a much more complete collection of Homeric litterature and a better understanding of the ancient world in general, the Odyssey we have today isn't what was originally written almost 3000 years ago. It's an impossibility to read the story the way the author intended, hell, we don't even know who wrote it. It's attributed to being created by Homer but we don't even know if Homer even existed. You really need to stop being so pretentious. Scholars in a thousand or two thousand years will have a much better understanding of the 19th, 20th and 21st century because we have the ability to store virtually a near infinite amount of information in a small space. They won't have to worry about deterioration of physical media or that stories are incomplete or lost to history. Physical damage doesn't "make a book", it might be interesting from a historical perspective, but it doesn't change or enhance the content of the book in any way. It's still the same book whether it's read on an e-book or a 200 year old physical copy.
[QUOTE=ejonkou;51984660]I don't see how e-books lack character. My Kindle was given to me by my father on my 19th birthday, and I'll probably keep it long after the device has died and I've moved on to another e-book simply because it has sentimental value for me. In 20, 40, 60 years I'll be able to dig it up and it will serve as a reminder of my father, and all of the hundreds of wonderful worlds I've had the opportunity to explore, which, if I had to track down a physical copy of every book I've read, I wouldn't have. You use the Odyssey as an example. If the Ancient Greeks had the opportunity to back up all of their litterature in the cloud, we would have had a much more complete collection of Homeric litterature and a better understanding of the ancient world in general, the Odyssey we have today isn't what was originally written almost 3000 years ago. It's an impossibility to read the story the way the author intended, hell, we don't even know who wrote it. It's attributed to being created by Homer but we don't even know if Homer even existed. You really need to stop being so pretentious. Scholars in a thousand or two thousand years will have a much better understanding of the 19th, 20th and 21st century because we have the ability to store virtually a near infinite amount of information in a small space. They won't have to worry about deterioration of physical media or that stories are incomplete or lost to history. Physical damage doesn't "make a book", it might be interesting from a historical perspective, but it doesn't change or enhance the content of the book in any way. It's still the same book whether it's read on an e-book or a 200 year old physical copy.[/QUOTE] I can guarantee that most of what we have saved and stored digitally will not last 1000 years. Between regime changes, natural disasters, and god knows what else they simply won't. [t]http://i.imgur.com/VwWAHRw.jpg[/t] [t]http://i.imgur.com/nFzV2Zm.jpg?1[/t] [t]http://i.imgur.com/xmzxDGF.jpg?1[/t] Once owned by a P.R. Boyde 138988 of the Royal Garrison Artillery (Company Unknown). All the stains and notes left by him add to the history of the tome. If I had bought this signalling manual as an ebook I wouldn't have that. I wouldn't have this connection with a man I've never met, and never will. Yet here I am 100 years on, holding the very book he did. The very book he wrote various notes down in, and that was stained by what I presume is mud. Imagine I'd have bought it as an ebook. I'd have none of that. That's why ebooks lack character. It's not the book, it's an image of the book. One you don't even own. All that other shit reveals stuff about the past, about the human element in it all. The stuff that's actually important to historians and archeaologists. It's the kind of stuff that is lost. And in your example of if they had the cloud in ancient greece, they probably wouldn't have included their margin notes if that was the case.
I do prefer physical for reading comfortably in a chair at home but lugging them around is quite a bother and I can't even fit all of my current books in my bookshelf after having two rows per shelf. Reading in bed and on the move is much easier with a digital device. I used to have an ebook reader but the power button broke, now I've read the majority of my books on my phone and it's actually pretty alright.
Character argument aside, there are scientific reasons that Physical Books are better. For example, e-readers have been shown to [URL="https://hms.harvard.edu/news/e-readers-foil-good-nights-sleep"]negatively impact sleep[/URL]. [url]www.pnas.org/content/112/4/1232.full.pdf[/url] That they reduce reading comprehension: [url]https://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/10/students-reading-e-books-are-losing-out-study-suggests/[/url] [url]https://convention2.allacademic.com/one/aera/aera14/index.php?program_focus=view_paper&selected_paper_id=687447&cmd=online_program_direct_link&sub_action=online_program[/url] [url]http://college.usatoday.com/2014/04/17/print-vs-ebooks-it-is-so-e-on/?utm_source=huffingtonpost.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=pubexchange_article[/url] [URL="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/19/readers-absorb-less-kindles-paper-study-plot-ereader-digitisation"]This was a different study that showed some of the same effects, except with a mystery story[/URL] [URL="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-s-baron/read-on-screen-learning_b_6681500.html?utm_hp_ref=books"]It's easier to concentrate on what you're reading while reading a physical book, and you're less likely to multitask[/URL] (This is written by a professor who is studying that). [URL="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563204000202"]It's more mentally taxing to read on a screen[/URL].
[QUOTE=bdd458;51982711]This is the only point you have but is also negated by things like Libraries and book exchange programs. You could also buy smaller copies of books if storage space is truly an issue.[/QUOTE] That's your argument? Seriously? "Don't have room for books? Drive 10 minutes to and from the local library instead of just downloading them to your phone or whatever and being able to read it in 30 seconds!" and "No room for books? Buy smaller books instead of just putting 50 on your phone!"
[QUOTE=gk99;51985010]That's your argument? Seriously? "Don't have room for books? Drive 10 minutes to and from the local library instead of just downloading them to your phone or whatever and being able to read it in 30 seconds!" and "No room for books? Buy smaller books instead of just putting 50 on your phone!"[/QUOTE] Yeah, libraries exist for a reason. So you can borrow books from them. If you can't deal with that little bit of time you have to wait then tbh you have some series issues with patience.
i got both a kindle and my own library lmao so i don't have to worry about either of your arguments i do either whenever it's convenient i like to have both if possible for redundancy
Both have their ups and downs. Either aren't superior than another in every way or anything.
I love going in my community room and grabbing a random book off the book shelves. Many residents, here, leave books in the comm. when they move out. It is because of this that I started reading the [i]Dune[/i] series; someone had left a fairly old copy in there. However, I do love ebooks. I love being able to use my phone to listen to music as I read on Cool Reader. I love it's simplicity and customization. I like that I can make the text and pages the appropriate color for my liking. I have many books on my phone, so sometimes I do get distracted, but I eventually get through them all. All in all, I do use both, but I prefer a physical book more. The pages on a physical book, for me, provide the best reading experience; being able to easily scribble in the book, the feeling of flipping a page/holding the book, seeing your progress in the book (by seeing the end of the book waning), are all a bonus for me. I love it when a book is pocket sized and you can just put it in a jacket pocket, a back pocket in your pants or even a front pocket. Those are my favorite books to read, since I can go anywhere with them. There's a special feeling to pulling a book out of your pocket. I don't know why that is though. [editline]420[/editline] Oh, and who can deny the awesomeness of running through the stacks of books at the library. I love going to the library at my university; I get lost in the stacks, turning and moving shelves. I sit in the library for hours, lost within the stacks, just pulling books out of all these random and interesting sections.
I try but I've never been able to read a novel on a screen. If I had an e-ink tablet maybe, but physical all the way. In fact recently I got the "John Carter of Mars" compilation from Barnes & Noble I guess I apply that to comics/graphic novels as well to a lesser extent. Rohan at the Louvre looks astonishing on paper.
If I need to read stuff for work or study I just get the digital versions, but if I'm reading for my own pleasure I try and get physical copies.
digital ones aren't as widely available around here yet
[QUOTE=bdd458;51984783]I can guarantee that most of what we have saved and stored digitally will not last 1000 years. Between regime changes, natural disasters, and god knows what else they simply won't.[/QUOTE] You couldn't be more wrong. How could you possibly "guarantee" that? [QUOTE=bdd458;51984907]Character argument aside, there are scientific reasons that Physical Books are better. For example, e-readers have been shown to [URL="https://hms.harvard.edu/news/e-readers-foil-good-nights-sleep"]negatively impact sleep[/URL]. Another studying showing that using e-readers impacts melanin levels (making it harder to sleep): [URL="http://www.pnas.org/content/112/4/1232.full.pdf"]www.pnas.org/content/112/4/1232.full.pdf[/URL] That they reduce reading comprehension: [URL]https://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/10/students-reading-e-books-are-losing-out-study-suggests/[/URL] [URL]https://convention2.allacademic.com/one/aera/aera14/index.php?program_focus=view_paper&selected_paper_id=687447&cmd=online_program_direct_link&sub_action=online_program[/URL] [URL]http://college.usatoday.com/2014/04/17/print-vs-ebooks-it-is-so-e-on/?utm_source=huffingtonpost.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=pubexchange_article[/URL] [URL="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/19/readers-absorb-less-kindles-paper-study-plot-ereader-digitisation"]This was a different study that showed some of the same effects, except with a mystery story[/URL] [URL="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-s-baron/read-on-screen-learning_b_6681500.html?utm_hp_ref=books"]It's easier to concentrate on what you're reading while reading a physical book, and you're less likely to multitask[/URL] (This is written by a professor who is studying that). [URL="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563204000202"]It's more mentally taxing to read on a screen[/URL].[/QUOTE] 1. Many e-book readers now come with built in features to change the display's colour temperature, similair to f.lux, to minimize eye strain and disruption of sleep. E-book readers are way better in this regard compared to most modern devices. 2. Most of those "studies" are flimsy at best, and several of them don't even focus on e-books, simply on e-book reader apps available on tablet devices which aren't remotely similair at all. My Kindle doesn't have Candy Crush or any other games/apps to divert my attention. Honestly just seems like you Googled "Why e-books are bad" and just linked a bunch of articles without reading them first or looking at them with a critical eye. One of those links is also hidden behind a pay-wall. They all pretty much just say that the "sample size is small" and "it hints/points towards" this, but they are definitely not conclusive at all. E-books are superior in almost every way, that's straight up objective fact and there's no disputing that.
[QUOTE=ejonkou;51985410]You couldn't be more wrong. How could you possibly "guarantee" that?[/quote] If you think things are going to be hunky dory for humanity in the next 1000 years I've got news for you, we're not a rational species. We do irrational things, and my god do we love destruction. Nothing lasts forever, not when we're around. [quote]1. Many e-book readers now come with built in features to change the display's colour temperature, similair to f.lux, to minimize eye strain and disruption of sleep. E-book readers are way better in this regard compared to most modern devices.[/quote] If it's emitting light, it's still fucking with you. So the e-ink ones would not cause that, but an LCD screen or LEDs would. Which, isn't that what the paperwhite uses? [quote]2. Most of those "studies" are flimsy at best, and several of them don't even focus on e-books, simply on e-book reader apps available on tablet devices which aren't remotely similair at all. My Kindle doesn't have Candy Crush or any other games/apps to divert my attention. Honestly just seems like you Googled "Why e-books are bad" and just linked a bunch of articles without reading them first or looking at them with a critical eye. One of those links is also hidden behind a pay-wall. They all pretty much just say that the "sample size is small" and "it hints/points towards" this, but they are definitely not conclusive at all.[/quote] Nice, dismissing them just because they don't align with your own conclusion. Why don't you try showing me stuff that says the opposite of what they are saying then? Maybe actually try backing up your claims. No science is 100% conclusive, it takes repetition for something to be conclusive, but the overall point is that they're not all you're cracking them up to be. So no, Ebooks are still not god's gift to mankind as you're attempting to make them out to be. They have flaws and will never be better than a good old fashioned book.
I'd never thought I'd see someone so elitist about physical copies of books. The best you've come up with (when you're not saying that objective inconveniences that physical books provide are somehow desirable. I can tell you right now that you will never convince anyone that looking up a word on a digital dictionary is less convenient in any way than looking it up in a physical one) is that physical books are better based on their symbolic value to you particularly, and that is completely subjective. You can drag out whatever musty tome from grave of General Deadguy and wax lyrical about how much "character" or whatever it has, but not everyone will actually care. For those, and there are many even among avid readers, that only care about a book's instrumental value, it doesn't hold as much weight.
I always try to get creative works (not just limited to literature; I always try to physical copies of music, etc.) because I like to have a physical representation of the art. Digital versions are definitely more convenient, though.
I slightly prefer reading on a screen, but I do enjoy having a collection of physical books.
[QUOTE=bdd458;51985039]Yeah, libraries exist for a reason. So you can borrow books from them. If you can't deal with that little bit of time you have to wait then tbh you have some series issues with patience.[/QUOTE] You can't claim that this isn't a problem while also moaning that it's too inconvenient to plug eReaders in for a bit every month or so.
Real books second-hand are cheaper for me so that's the way to go. Or people with book collections that don't mind lending one for a while.
Both are great. Paper for home, digital for on-the-go and for things like programming/research.
:snip: this is retarded and gone on long enough
I see it as paying tribute to a writer by purchasing the book, same for me as buying the vinyl album for a band that I truely enjoy.
I just got a book delivered, there's something to be said about printed images and text
I picked up a physical copy of [I]Snow Crash[/I] just last month. It's nice to read a few pages before going to bed every other day or so.
[QUOTE=bdd458;51985469]If you think things are going to be hunky dory for humanity in the next 1000 years I've got news for you, we're not a rational species. We do irrational things, and my god do we love destruction. Nothing lasts forever, not when we're around.[/QUOTE] Nothing is pointing towards an imminent destruction of human society. In fact, we are living in the most peaceful times in human history. There's no reason to not believe that our current, global civilization won't last another thousand years, unless you're an avid listener of Alex Jones. [QUOTE=bdd458;51985469]If it's emitting light, it's still fucking with you. So the e-ink ones would not cause that, but an LCD screen or LEDs would. Which, isn't that what the paperwhite uses?[/QUOTE] False. Kindle Paperwhite isn't backlit, the light falls at an angle on to the screen. On top of that, you have a large variety of light settings, where the lowest setting makes the screen barely visible in the dark. It won't disrupt your sleep. Paperwhite has an e-ink display. [QUOTE=bdd458;51985469]Nice, dismissing them just because they don't align with your own conclusion. Why don't you try showing me stuff that says the opposite of what they are saying then? Maybe actually try backing up your claims. No science is 100% conclusive, it takes repetition for something to be conclusive, but the overall point is that they're not all you're cracking them up to be. So no, Ebooks are still not god's gift to mankind as you're attempting to make them out to be. They have flaws and will never be better than a good old fashioned book.[/QUOTE] I'm not dismissing them because they don't align with the truth. I'm dismissing them because they're flimsy. I read through them, they're mostly talking about e-book apps on other devices such as iPads and various Android devices and not specifically about e-books. The burden of proof is on you, and you still haven't delivered any proof that physical books are superior to e-books. They also use extremely small sample sizes, 30 6-year olds isn't large enough to make any conclusions at all, they even say that in the articles and studies you linked. Honestly, you're pretentious and delusional, thinking that using a magnifying glass and a dictionary while in bed is a good solution and as convenient as using an e-book. E-books are simply superior, there's no disputing that. You still haven't come up with a single reason why physical books are superior other than subjective "omg this dude totally had this book like 40 years ago and now i have it and it makes it so much better!" Which can't even be used as an argument.
[QUOTE=ejonkou;51988474]Nothing is pointing towards an imminent destruction of human society. In fact, we are living in the most peaceful times in human history. There's no reason to not believe that our current, global civilization won't last another thousand years, unless you're an avid listener of Alex Jones.[/QUOTE] ehh i'm willing to bet that it'll be 300-400 years more likely also physical books tend to survive societal collapse better than electronic ones (especially those of parchment), although its a weird thing to argue about in the first place
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