the elibrary revisited

[jazzfish]

Given: Bookshelf space is a serious consideration for housing. We got unbelievably lucky with the place we're in right now but it's bloody expensive, and we may not be so fortunate in the next place.

Also, books are the great majority of the physical objects I own. If I'm looking to reduce the amount of Stuff in my life (and I usually am; the "do not have any attachments" pattern is locked in eternal conflict with the "might be useful someday" pattern), books are a place to start.

Hence: the possibility of going over to ebooks for the small portion of the library available in that format plus anything new that comes out.

The imminent release of the new iPad is doubtless a small factor in pondering this possibility.

Pros: Less space, obviously. Being able to buy books immediately as I want to read them may (may) curtail the need to Buy All The Books whether or not I have time to read them. (Case in point: acquired "Throne of the Crescent Moon" this weekend, but gord only knows when it'll slot into the stack.) Not as much having to haul a giant hardback around because it's what I'm in the middle of (e.g., Anathem). Ereading is likely to lend itself to reading more online magazines & contemporary short stories.

Cons: Love of the physical experience of reading a paper book. Fear of lost data. The visible library is a defining feature of Home. Another %&$ device that needs to be plugged in. Can't loan ebooks to people who don't have an ereader. Many older works are unavailable as ebooks, leading to frustration. Need to find an ereader acceptable to uilos as well as one for me, otherwise she'll just buy dead-tree copies of anything I pick up in ebook that she wants to read too.

Unknowns: The biggest factor is how well I'll like reading on an ereader / tablet / what have you. (Already known: how well I like reading on the Device, that being "not very," but that's a function of the tiny screen.) How much of a problem the confusion of "do i have that in ebook or dead-tree" will be. How much of a problem DRM will be, though I anticipate "not much."

Thoughts?

Comments

[rbandrews]

The iPad is quite nice. I don't really know anything about the Fire other than that it's Android.

I've got a Nook Touch that I'll probably bring to Wiscon if you want to see it. The page turn delay is definitely noticeable but it's otherwise great. Small, battery lasts for weeks, it's not picky about putting books on it.

I love that I can carry one really light thing and have all of Sandman and Lucifer and The Maxx and whatever else right there. I'm kinda guilty about the fact that those are all pirated, although I do own them all on paper as well (Sandman as Absolute editions even). And the page turn delay matters a LOT to me for programming books, because I don't read them so much as flip around to the section that tells me how to use this class, or whatever. So for both those the iPad totally wins.

I've read two books on the Nook: The Colour of Magic, and the back half of REAMDE (yes, that counts as two complete books). It worked totally great. The fact that I don't use it much is less to do with any failings in the Nook and more to do with me not reading long-form fiction any more.

Heavy comics.... Eh. Yeah, they're heavy, but I dunno. I feel bad about this, but I derive enjoyment just from looking at the shelf (okay, shelves at this point) of comics and thinking "I own all those". I like reading them on the pad better (no worries about spilling something on them or breaking the spines or getting finger grease on glossy paper) but I still like buying them in paper. And while moving them sucks, I can just hire burly men with trucks.

[jazzfish]

Honestly the only reason I'm hesitating on the iPad is that it may be just too big to read comfortably with. So I should totally try one out at some point.

I do appreciate having the Wall O'Comics, in the same way I appreciate having the Wall O'Books. It's just... at some point I may have to make the choice between enjoying having the Wall O'Comics/Books and living someplace that fits all my other criteria (price, size, view, location, etc).

[rbandrews]

I really like the largeness. Anything smaller wouldn't be usable for comics; you'd have to scroll to see a full page. It's a mite heavy; there are definitely some positions that work and some that don't.

Yeah, I have kind of the same feeling about books sometimes. I have the "you own too many things" voice nagging me, my things inconvenience other people and waste money that I should save for the day everyone starts hating me again.

I like DVDs. I have a lot of DVDs, but they still fit in about four boxes and they're all pretty light.