Thank God for books
Books are great. I like some parts of the e-reader concept like the abilty to store a few books for a holiday so saving space, but everything else about it is negative I reckon.

I love the tactile involvement of a book - the feel, the smell, the weight of it. I love the fact that I can read one on the train platform and not worry about some chav snatching it out of my hands. I like the way I can drop it on the floor and not break electronic internals or LCD screens. I like the fact that leaving it on the train by accident will not bankrupt my wallet and might just make someone else happy. I like the way I can lay one aside on a sandy beach and not worry about fucking it up. I like having one to hand when I am in bed and spot another Spidersaurus Rex on the wall...is there an app for squishing insects with an Ipad? I like the ability to pick a book up at short notice - Next time my connecting flight is delayed and I find myself with 7 hours to wait in Luton airport (dear God, that was grim) I want the comfort of being able to browse WHSmith for an hour, choose a book and read it in a quiet corner without worrying about the bloody battery going flat. I like having piles of books in the house - they look nice and are a good conversation starter.
No reader gadget will replace any of that.
(dave likes cheese, Thu 4 Nov 2010, 17:54, 6 replies)

Since when were books redundant technology?

( The Awful Puppy Bakery is still bored, Thu 4 Nov 2010, 18:04, closed)

Books *are* great, but where do you put them?
I'll admit that I love to read and collect books but, despite this being a recent thing, I am already wondering where to store them and how to move them should I, for example, emigrate.
The Kindle (other readers with the same type of capability exist) seems pretty good to me and I am sorely tempted -- I could carry a bookshelf in my bag instead of a book and the battery should last months.
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Thu 4 Nov 2010, 18:04, closed)

i like reading books on my phone
because unlike a book, my phone is always in my pocket so I can nip it out and do 5 minutes reading at all sorts of dull moments.

this is not to say paper books aren't nice and all.
( rob, Thu 4 Nov 2010, 18:54, closed)

i can't wait to get a Kindle
everyone things I'm going to just stop buying books for some reason. some technologies are just perfect for different things.

for god's sake I still use cassettes!
(chocolatelemming, Thu 4 Nov 2010, 19:05, closed)

you forgot the smell too
second hand book shops and even new books have a smell that cant be replicated by any sort of electrical device
(Cov Boy, Fri 5 Nov 2010, 9:29, closed)

Paper books are way better.
Because they are printed in Britain. How many iPads are made in Britain? Besides, looking at a screen makes my eyes hurt a lot more quickly than any paper book. Plus you can't really get the author to sign an iPad or a Kindle (it makes reading the screen rather difficult), although Mr. Louis Stevenson has yet to sign my copy of Kidnapped...
( Awk Industries is actually a helic- NO, STAY BACK SHARK!, Sat 6 Nov 2010, 23:14, closed)