Paper book versus ebook.

[Hermes14]

My partner & I were having a debate about buying a paper book or a digital book.
She says that there is nothing better than smelling the paper of a new book & will not change to digital.
I find there are a lot of pros & cons to both.
The advantage with ebooks is, when you buy it you can dowload it immediately
You don't have to worry about it getting stolen in the post.
There are no added delivery costs.

The disadvantage is you are restricted to reading it on your commputer or an ereader.
Ereaders only support certain formats restricting the amount of stores you can buy from.
Which do you prefer?

[HR Solutions]

I pad mini works well for me or all my down loaded reading material.

[msmoorad]

i have a Kindle & although i love books, the Kindle has quite a few advantages.
u can carry a lot of books around in something thats the size & weight of one book- or in many cases, much less than a book.
it has a good battery life so constant battery charging is not a problem.

its much cheaper to buy an ebook than an actual book
u can get the latest books faster than what it takes to get an actual book
it automatically goes to the last page of a book u were reading, so no need for a bookmark etc

one of the main disadvantages of an ebook reader is that its somewhat fragile
u cant just drop/throw it down anywhere or sit on it

[AndyD]

....Ereaders only support certain formats restricting the amount of stores you can buy from.

Your last point isn't entirely accurate. Ebook readers often do require the ebook in a particular format but you can change the file format of the ebook with a free program like Calibre.

[adrianh]

Ebooks on a tablet.

Real books take up too much space and weigh roo much.

My daughters carry heavy big bags full of books to school each day....its silly, schools should make all the books available as ebooks....it will domwonders for thier backs.

[IanF]

I love my kindle just waiting for a good excuse to upgrade to a paperwhite then I can read in bed without the light on.

[sterne.law@gmail.com]

Ebooks on a tablet.

Real books take up too much space and weigh roo much.

My daughters carry heavy big bags full of books to school each day....its silly, schools should make all the books available as ebooks....it will domwonders for thier backs.

It will also cut costs and delivery should not be a problem for the minister.

[Hermes14]

Your last point isn't entirely accurate. Ebook readers often do require the ebook in a particular format but you can change the file format of the ebook with a free program like Calibre.

I downloaded calibre a few days ago because it supports quiet a few formats.
I don't know you can change the format but thanks I will check up on that.
Thanks AndyD

[wynn]

Well if you fancy e books you can view my scribblings at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/332256

buy it if you are feeling generous

[AndyD]

I downloaded calibre a few days ago because it supports quiet a few formats.
I don't know you can change the format but thanks I will check up on that.
Thanks AndyD

It was originally designed as a tool for converting ebooks from one file format to another but nowadays it also comes bundled with software to enable it to be used as an ebook reader for a laptop or PC. It also has extensive library features for keeping your books organised and re-tagging/editing the metadata etc. A very handy program, well written, very stable and well worth the learning curve for getting familiar with it plus it's free which is a bonus.

It will also cut costs and delivery should not be a problem for the minister.

I'd be worried about the environmental impact of thousands of Kindles being dumped in the waterways of Limpopo and the Eastern Cape

[wynn]

From the publishing point of view, a book that would cost R250 from Exclusive or like can sell for R40 as an e book and the kicker is that you earn as much as if you sold a book made of dead trees and geographically you reach the world not where the dead tree publisher decides to put your books

[Neville Bailey]

Well if you fancy e books you can view my scribblings at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/332256

buy it if you are feeling generous

I felt generous, so I bought it for my Kindle! The subject looks very interesting...

[reema]

I like E-books only because of when i touch paper book its cause of sleep.

[HR Solutions]

I like E-books only because of when i touch paper book its cause of sleep.

Gee I never thought of that

[Mike C]

I have had a kindle for about a month now. Love it!
Lots of books from which to choose ... with reviews.

Big positive for me is the ability to change the size of the typeface as I hate reading tiny print in a book.
Second lovely option is the quick ability to look up and learn a new word by highlighting it and having the dictionary definition appear immediately.
Also like the fact that I can bookmark a section or search for a passage quickly.

One possible negative is that Amazon warns that the books never "belong" to you.