• everett@lemmy.ml
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    8 months ago

    Yes, because I like reading.

    But seriously, ebooks… maybe 8.5 times out of 10. E-ink screens are amazing and just as good as paper, but having your books also available on your phone, and thus always in your pocket, is transformative. So, digital on a platform that syncs between devices. (Bonus points for accomplishing this with an open-source app.)

  • sbv@sh.itjust.works
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    8 months ago

    Sometimes. I prefer to use libraries with Libby.

    If my library doesn’t have an ebook available, I’ll get an electronic version. Paper books don’t make a lot of sense to me: I only read them once, I rarely lend them out, they seem like a waste of energy for what is essentially just data.

    Paper books have a romance. The idea of having a stocked personal library is cool, it just doesn’t fit my lifestyle, personality, or budget.

    • variants@possumpat.io
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      8 months ago

      I’ve bought physical books then bought digital because I usually poop at work and that’s the best time for a quick read

      • sbv@sh.itjust.works
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        8 months ago

        My boss makes a dollar

        I make a dime

        That’s why I read in the shitter on company time

      • grrgyle@slrpnk.net
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        8 months ago

        I just keep a book in the bathroom.

        I have a complicated series of motions that I’ve developed from a young age to make sure I don’t contaminate a book with the bad hand

    • grrgyle@slrpnk.net
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      8 months ago

      Paper books have a romance. The idea of having a stocked personal library is cool, it just doesn’t fit my lifestyle, personality, or budget.

      Totally fair of course, but just as a suggestion for others who want to own books on a budget, I suggest thrift stores (like for clothing). They usually have a whole section of use books for very cheap.

      And of course there’s used book stores.

      • sbv@sh.itjust.works
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        8 months ago

        It isn’t the price of the books, it’s the price of the space and furniture to showcase them in an appropriate manner.

        • grrgyle@slrpnk.net
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          8 months ago

          That’s fair too. For my part, I’ve recently started to maintain one bookshelf (found on curbside give-away day) and churn through it, keeping a couple notable favorites as conversation starters or for loaning out.

          But the physical presence is important to me, so it’s worth the real estate it takes up in the room. I can totally understand how that isn’t the case for everyone.

  • communism@lemmy.ml
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    8 months ago

    🏴‍☠️

    If you’re spending money on a book you may as well get a physical one.

  • ComradeSharkfucker@lemmy.ml
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    8 months ago

    Physical, i need paper i need it. I cannot read on electronics the words arent real they arent real books; the knowledge is forbidden to me

  • Wojwo@lemmy.ml
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    8 months ago

    Purchase? Sailing the high seas… I mean libraries. Libraries have all the best books.

  • Lexi Sneptaur@pawb.social
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    8 months ago

    I go to the library because my city spends an insane amount of money on our libraries, so they’re actually far superior to book stores.

  • AVincentInSpace@pawb.social
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    8 months ago

    Physical books, all the way. I’m a techie, through and through – I’m a computer programmer by trade, and as soon as I can convince these stupid smart bulbs to work with Home Assistant I’m very excited to have a smart home – but I’ll take a physical book over a digital one any day of the week. If I must read something on a computer, I pirate it. Physical books are easier on the eyes (and e-ink displays, though they’ve made massive strides over the last several years, still lag well behind their old-fashioned counterparts in terms of color rendering (and in some cases even black-and-white readability) and are still prohibitively priced), and more importantly, you can’t put DRM on a piece of paper. I’m a huge believer in owning what I buy.

  • NeedingvsGetting@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    I’ve tried digital books, but I’ve found that physical books work much better for my brain. I retain more information and can “get lost” in the story, whereas, for some inexplicable reason, digital books being read on a screen kind of “flatten” a story for me. It’s almost like a 3d vs 2d experience for me.

    • june@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      No this totally makes sense to me.

      It doesn’t impact my experience of the story, but there is something to having the next page hidden behind the turn and knowing that it’s right there. When I read an ebook it’s like reading an article. The sensation is different and it loses a touch of excitement without that tactile feeling of ‘the next page’. Pages don’t matter in ebooks either. You adjust the text size and the ‘page’ count is suddenly radically different. I measure my progress in chapters or percentages now.

      It makes sense to me why that wouldn’t work for some folks.

    • Bitrot@lemmy.sdf.org
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      8 months ago

      Have you ever used an eink reader, or just a tablet or something? The difference is night and day for me. The first time I used an eink reader I thought there was paper covering the screen at first.

      • NeedingvsGetting@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        I have! But unfortunately, I had the same result as if it were my phone/tablet. I really wish I understood why it was like this for me so I could maybe work on it, but I guess I’m just one of those “need-to-physically-turn-the-page” people :/

  • catharso@discuss.tchncs.de
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    8 months ago

    I buy physical usually.

    I feel, i tend to abandon ebooks a little more often. Somehow i feel more committed to actually read most of my ever growing stack of books someday.

    Ebook-reader are great nonetheless.

  • ninjaturtle@lemmy.today
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    8 months ago

    Ebooks. Can store more on a reading tablet, easier to transport most of the time, sometimes lighter than physical books, hold my spot easily where I left off, can read in darker places, easier to store. Still have physical but liking digital more. Use an eink display tablet. Buy the books then download epubs or PDFs.

  • CodingCarpenter@lemm.ee
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    8 months ago

    I adore my Kindle. One of the few things I don’t think Amazon has fucked up. I can get just about any book from anywhere on a whim usually for cheap.

  • t�m@lemmy.ml
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    8 months ago

    digital, I don’t mind physical but I just don’t have the room where I live for a ton of books.

  • Trent@lemmy.ml
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    8 months ago

    Digital. I can adjust fonts/sizes, search for content, skip around, and whether I have 10 or 10,000 books, I can carry them around in my pocket.