It seems there is quite the battle between those who have given up their paper books for electronic readers, and those who refuse to use one. I have to admit that last year I got Barnes & Noble’s latest HD electronic reader, and have read some stories on it. I have people that ask me to review their books, and in some instances this is the only way I can access their stories.
I also said I would never own one. Because I could never give up my paper books. This is still the case. I have not even turned it on in at least 3 months. My excuse for getting it was I wanted to use it for my magazine subscriptions since I do not like throwing away magazines after I read them. I do get some subscriptions sent to my reader, but, as I haven’t used it in months, I am proving to myself that I just do not care for it all that much.
With that being said, I have crossword apps on it, and I love doing crossword puzzles. I have used it for that more than anything. But alas, I am too busy with other things to even have time for that.
I do not believe that the electronic reader will ever replace “real” books, and I would be devastated if that ever happened. But with so many authors finding it easier to publish, or self-publish this way, the brick-and-mortar publishing companies are possibly seeing a decline in manuscripts being sent to them.
Another reason I prefer real books? The fact that in most of the cases, that person writing that book had to endure the lengthy process of finding a publisher to accept their book, print it, and market it. Although I have never tried, I think it is safe to say this is no easy task. That doesn’t mean you still cannot come across a real book that does not completely suck, but the chances of you seeing spelling, grammatical, and story line errors are no where near as likely to happen.
I have read some pretty terrible things from self publishers. And I have also read the most amazing stories from self publishers.
How do you feel about the electronic reader?
booksandopinions.com 
You bring up a very interesting point. I read both and still prefer hard copy, but I was accustomed to hard copy before I tried an e-reader. I’m very curious to know what new readers prefer –people who started using both around the same time.
Thanks for your post Angela. Great blog.
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TyCobbsTeeth
I’d love to find out in 10-15 years what kids who grew up on e-readers think about this.
Thanks for liking my post. I’m enjoying reading your blog, as I, too, am a book lover.
Good post and I see you put a lot of thought into it. I personally love the real thing, however I travel a lot and space is a premium now when traveling, so I use my I-pad for reading my Kindle books. As for hardcovers, I have run out of room at home, so I recycle the books to others when I am done. (Unless of course it turns out to be one of my favorites.)
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Sharron Grodzinsky
Great post! I use both. Real books are always my preference but the choice to move to ebooks was driven by practical concerns – they’re almost always cheaper and I have limited storage space for bookshelves in my apartment. Like you said though, quality can be dubious when buying online! 🙂
I, too, would be devastated if e-books ever replaced the real ones. I own an e-reader and like the app on the my phone for convenience or travel but nothing beats the feel of real pages between my fingers.
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I love to read, too! I have the kindle app on my tablet, but I have only read one book using it. It was very strange! I just love the “feel” of paper books! Also, I can’t imagine what it would be like to have a textbook online!
I do think that an e-reader is the way to go when traveling, tho!
I own an E-Reader and I love it. I also have a home library (recently broke 1000 books :), go me). If I like a book, assuming it’s not a self-published work, I buy a physical copy.
I probably wouldn’t own one if I didn’t travel a lot but I do and it’d be unreasonable to pack a few dozen books every time I leave for any extended time. That’s where, I feel, the E-Readers have merit. Most of the books I own a hard copy of I have on my E-Reaeder so that I can re-read them whenever I’m out and about in the world.
As for replacing books I seriously doubt it. I don’t believe people will ever truly stop loving physical books enough to let that happen. Besides, the smell of books is one of the most fragrant scents I know. If only they made library scented candles or maybe some sort of car freshener.