Asklemmy

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.)

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.

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

🏴‍☠️

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

eBook reader with free books.

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.

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.

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.

Physical. Hardcover if it exists. I like to collect them

I work at a computer and find it easier to continue using a screen for reading

However I do also purchase some paper books for when wanting to disconnect for a while

Making a calibre server has elevated my reading more then I thought possible. It's like I have a library everywhere I go.

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

Pirate digital and by used physical books

I go through spurts of reading, and I had been putting off ebooks because I like to own the physical books and have them fill up a shelf etc.

I recently got a Kobo and it's been amazing. Definitely been reading more, and as others have mentioned, it's so great when travelling. I've got a little camera sling bag that I carry when travelling, and it just manages to fit in there so I can have a quick read when I'm waiting for something/got some down time etc.

Physical, Is soooo much easier to get distracted on a screen.

I never have bought a digital book, just get the PDF/epub for free like normal people lol, and I do only really if it's not worth it/too difficult/expensive to get it or a photocopy of it physically.

Physical always. The idea of reading, which for me is always to relax, on a digital screen is so antithetical to the point for me.

Prefer digital because space is a factor in my house. I love the idea of physical, and I'll usually go that way for art or reference books. However paperback equivalent I'm always going digital.

Although if I really love a book I'll always look to add it to my bookshelf at some point.

Physical, I just never could make the jump to digital or e reader. If you like reading on your phone or e reader more power to you. My mom loves her e reader b/c she loves to read but time has not been kind to her eyes, being able to make the print any size has been a big help to her.

Digital. No space for a bookshelf in my tiny little apartment, and I don’t need the social gratification of displaying a big impressive shelf full of books.

I don’t really care about the feel and smell of books.

My digital reader lets me read anything in OpenDyslexic font allowing me to read more, faster, with less energy expenditure.

I can look up any word with a long press

I can highlight and take notes without ruining the freshness of the book.

And most importantly of all: I can read on my side in bed without having to switch positions for every page.

Second-hand physical books often cost 3,01€, where 3,00€ are shipping. That’s no match for digitals. Also I hate handheld devices that can’t take a beating (looking at you, smartphone). I’m clumsy. I drop things. Books survive that. E-readers… I don’t wanna test.

Also, for whatever reason, I read physical books more carefully than text on screen.

I mostly read ebooks but I do buy physical copies of books I want to have on the shelf in the weird hope that maybe my kids or niblings might stumble upon in the future and spark an interest. Luckily I have a really good used bookstore near me that I can buy them for fairly cheaply so I consider it a cheap long term investment that will hopefully pay dividends

Physical. I like the feel more than a screen, and I can always read it.

I made the mistake of buying an ebook once. I will never make that mistake again.

Fuck drm forever. Physical only. I will never pay for a file I can't even open using my normal document viewer.

I pirate digital books, because I don't want to spend the money. I buy physical books so that I can resell them.

I only read fiction, so I always buy it pirate ebooks unless there’s a special edition of something that I am really excited about. I’ve bought all of Brandon Sanderson’s mystery novels in hardcover for example, and I buy the Stormlight books hardcover as well. I’d love to have the entire cosmere in hardcover, or better yet their special edition leather bound hardcovers (for the ones he’s done it with), but it’s just too expansive and expensive to justify.

In an ideal world, a physical copy includes a digital copy.

Physical. I tried reading on device and it’s less gratifying.

Second hand physical books.

7" tablet with FBReader and I download books into Calibre for it to load via OPDS. I used to pay for books, but using the Kindle app was a nightmare. Different bugs every update. It was easier to pirate. I take a look online to see if authors I like have a donation link so I can pay them directly.

I thought I'd never stop reading physical books, but I wouldn't go back after using a tablet. I never lose my place in the book when I fall asleep, I don't need to have a light on to read, and when I wake up during the night I just flick the tablet on, read for a few minutes while barely waking up, and crash again. I could never do that before because I'd have to find my place in the book and mark it before I fell asleep again.

Oh, and fuck Amazon.

Physical books! I want to fully own my books not have them be locked by some asshole company. It's also just nicer to read paper instead of a screen. It's also easier to carry around a small book instead of a bigger tablet and having to deal with charging yet another device.

I prefer physical books, especially with that new book smell, but I'm pretty out of space so I have gotten books digitally for the last few years.

I usually get physical books free through the local Buy Nothing group or Little Free Library network.

I usually get e-books legally from the library or extralegally from libgen.

I buy physical copies of cookbooks and books my friends wrote, and pay for e-books from indie writers who I don't know personally.

Ebooks wherever possible - except, perhaps, for reference books. I simply find the experience of reading an ebook on something like a kindle so much more pleasant than reading a print book. So much so that I really hate reading print books now.

Digital if it's for a quick reference here and there, physical if I want to read the whole thing and enjoy it.

With a large form factor phone in my pocket, I have access to millions of books right away. When I'm not reading an ebook I'm probably listening to the audio version instead, because I need my hands and/or eyes for something else.

I'm very guilty of doing both. Almost everything I have a physical copy of I also have a digital copy of. I prefer to read hard copies on paper when I'm at home but I like being able to take my entire library with me in my backpack on a Kindle if I go away for a weekend.
I also have audiobook copies of most of them to listen to while I'm driving or working too, I swear I don't have a problem.

Recently purchased a high class ebook reader and had to return it. The display technology simply doesn't match paper yet.

As far as the pure reading experience goes paper is better. Also less distractions and no blue light that keeps you awake late at night. Printed books take up physical space which is a negative for me.

But digital has the advantage when it comes to working with the text: quickly being able to search for strings, copy and paste whole passages, get translations or pronunciations, reorder pages, etc. Plus all the meta data and library management.

Libraries are in a weird space betwixt when it comes to digital versions btw. They give you a digital text but lock you into a specific app that denies the advantages of the digital format mentioned above.

That being said stuff like blog posts, online articles, social media, etc simply doesn't exist on paper. But for anything I read for pure enjoyment like literature paper is the way to go.

Lastly, in my experience electronic versions tend to be a bit cheaper than paperbacks but a lot less so than you expect. But a library card pays off after borrowing even a single book, so there's that 🤷‍♂️.

Physical if it's for a collection. Digital if it's for regular reading.

I also prefer the library to buying books as much as possible.

It really depends. I'm not from US, so ebooks and regular books tend to have very similar prices, no idea why. I can get a regular book for 40 bucks and the ebook will be 30. No great. So I useually pirate all Ebooks I have and if I really like it, buy a paper copy of it. I really like to collect books, so there's that. Graphic novels, on the other hand, are exclusively physical, I'll only read a few chapters to see if I like the story, in case I've never heard of it, and buy the real one