Actual or Online Books?

zararina said:
There are now online books and those who have tablets can load some books to it and they could just carry it and read like the actual books. With that being said, do you still prefer actual books or online books?
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I need a real life book in my hands. I need to smell it, taste it... okay, maybe not taste it, but you get my drift. Staring at a computer screen does nothing for me. I've tried e-readers, but I eventually get wary and can't continue, even if what I'm reading is great. A paper book, though, there's just something magical about the feel of a whole other world in the palms of your hands. It's like the satisfaction of turning the doorknob to your home after a long day. Aside from that, I like writing in my books, putting in post-its, and marveling the stacks of them around my apartment. Can't do that with an electronic copy.
 
I prefer an actual bound book. However, this generation of kids is very computer savy. For them, I like the ebooks. They are able to highlight, save notes, look up words, all with the touch of a fingertip. It makes getting to material so much easier than flipping through actual books for them.
 
I still prefer actual books over digital ones. I could get engaged in reading an actual book for hours compared to digital books. The latter just hurts my eyes and gives me headaches most of the time. For my child I would still recommend the actual over the digital type. There's just something about flipping the pages of a printed book that keeps me more excited in wanting to know what the next page has to offer. :)
 
Well you can call me old school and give me some guff all you want to, but I will always prefer the hard copy of a book to anything on a device. The convenience factor certainly is nice, though, but in terms of the feel, I just do not get the same satisfaction as I would with a real book, and thus the enjoyment is less, and thus I prefer the actual book. I really cannot see this changing anytime soon, either.
 
More and more children these days though are using technology from an early age, and so if we give them an old school paper book they might not have any interest in it, but if we give it to them on a tablet, they would. So the question needs to be asked what's more important? The fact that they read books in the first place in any format they feel comfortable with, or that they stop reading the books altogether because we aren't giving it to them in a format that's interesting for them?

On a personal note I still prefer to read paper books, but I have to move with the times and recognise that a lot of children don't, so if tablet is the only option then it's an option we need to consider.
 
pwarbi said:
More and more children these days though are using technology from an early age, and so if we give them an old school paper book they might not have any interest in it, but if we give it to them on a tablet, they would. So the question needs to be asked what's more important? The fact that they read books in the first place in any format they feel comfortable with, or that they stop reading the books altogether because we aren't giving it to them in a format that's interesting for them?

On a personal note I still prefer to read paper books, but I have to move with the times and recognise that a lot of children don't, so if tablet is the only option then it's an option we need to consider.
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I agree. Most children nowadays are more technologically inclined compared to most of us here when we were children. I'm just so glad that my child appreciates printed books and still loves reading them as much as I do. I guess it also had something to do with him being exposed early to physical books over the digital ones. :)
 
You're certainly right about what a child gets exposed to as to how they react to things as they get older. I myself have introduced paper books to children from a very early age, and while in all honesty they do probably prefer the tablets and other electronic devices to read on, they are still more than happy to pick up a 'real' book every now and again as well, as that's down to them getting used to them.

While like I said I accept that more and more children are going to turn to technology more than ever before, I do think it will be a shame if they didn't pick up a book at all and only parents and teachers can stop that happening I think by making sure they are still available and they are taught the importance of them as early as possible in their development.
 
I read digital books almost exclusively now. I do still love actual paper books, but since I haven't settled down in a place of my own yet, I find them very inconvenient and hard to lug around. (I would dread moving day if I owned a ton of paper books!) I travel a good bit, and it's just so much more convenient to carry digital books with you because you can store a ton of them on just one device.
 
But I'm assuming your not a child that is only just starting to read. I also prefer digital books as like you say they are a lot more convenient, but when I was growing up they wasn't around so had to read the paper format and I still think it's important that a child also starts off that way even now. If they start to prefer digital books as they grow and develop then that's fine and that's the way I'd imagine most children would go, but initially learning to read by using the traditional books is better as far as I'm concerned.

That is just my opinion on the matter though, and I'm sure others will have a different view.
 
pwarbi said:
But I'm assuming your not a child that is only just starting to read. I also prefer digital books as like you say they are a lot more convenient, but when I was growing up they wasn't around so had to read the paper format and I still think it's important that a child also starts off that way even now. If they start to prefer digital books as they grow and develop then that's fine and that's the way I'd imagine most children would go, but initially learning to read by using the traditional books is better as far as I'm concerned.

That is just my opinion on the matter though, and I'm sure others will have a different view.
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Oh yes, definitely. I think children are better off learning how to read using paper books. For one, they're less likely to hurt themselves with a paper book than with a digital reader or tablet. (Plus, you know, children sometimes aren't careful when handling gadgets.) And I feel like paper books engage them more, especially when it comes to picture books. I find that pictures in digital books are quite lacking - they're either not big enough or have very poor resolution, or both. Children love picture books, and picture books are read best when they're on paper.
 
Like I said before, I think a lot is going to depend on what the age is of the child we're talking about. There's no doubt that technology is going to play a massive part in education and the lives of the children in the future and I'm fine with that. I just think at a very early age the fundamentals of learning should be kept the same and if that means children learning out of traditional books to begin with then so be it.

Walking into a classroom where all the 3 and 4 year old's are sat in silence in front of a tablet isn't the same as walking into a classroom where they are reading from, or being read to from a paper book. Or maybe I'm just a little old fashioned? haha!
 
I have read books in both the form, but hands down the physical books are the best options which you have got.

The reason being the ebooks do not have the feel of the real book.

besides I personally read a lot of non fiction and it is difficult to take notes from an ebook or highlight some points in an ebook and therefore, I prefer the actual books.
 
An e-book obviously is going to feel different and I think a lot of people don't like that fact. In a way though the way a book feels or smells, you having to physically turn over the page shouldn't really make a difference and it should all be about the actual text in the book so I can see why others say it shouldn't really make a difference as long as you are reading and learning.

I prefer the traditional books at home, but in schools I think a mixture of the two is the better option and that gives the children the best of both worlds so to speak. They get the feel of a real book, but at the same time they are also learning how to read and work the tablets or e-book readers as well.
 
I have to go with online books, but if they are kids books, I will use them for the kids. It's much more meaningful to me when you can sit with your child and read them a book in hand.

Other books, especially ones with many pages, I'd rather go threw it digitally than in person, plus books are big and heavy. I can take my own library of books with me anywhere when they are digital.
 
I generally read actual books since it's better for me because I do not really have a tablet or any kind of device I could use to read and not damage my eyes at all, however, I do not really consider my PC as a good reading device since the brightness may basically damage my eyes and that's not really what I am looking for, therefore I prefer reading actual books so I can take them anywhere and whatnot.
 
Alumno said:
I do not really consider my PC as a good reading device since the brightness may basically damage my eyes and that's not really what I am looking for, therefore I prefer reading actual books so I can take them anywhere and whatnot.
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I am the same there. Whenever I spend too much time reading from a screen my eyes really start to hurt. I am betting that with time and the more that I do it, it might get better, for the time being it is just easier for me to read the actual books. I still like to use the highlighters and jot down notes in the margins, too, and that is just the way that I have learned my whole life. Interesting to see how things can change, though, and it is fun to read the different input from users.
 
My first choice is always a hard copy. First of all, it's because of the physical contact with the book, I can walk with it, I can smell it, I can touch it, I can do many things that I couldn't do with the e-book.
However, I believe that we are forced to use e-books since they are more affordable than actual books today. There are many web pages where you can get free e-books instead of spending money in a bookstore. That's how we forget to think about our health. We get our book for free, sit in the front of the computer and stare in the screen. That's what we do and what our children are going to do in the future.
 
I've always preferred physical books. Sure there are many sites where you could find and read virtually any book online as long as you've paid a subscription fee but since I'm not always on the net I have to read physical books. And as I live near a library, I still have access to as many books as someone who reads their books on the web.

As for downloadable ebooks, I've never like them much either.
 
Denis Hard said:
I've always preferred physical books. Sure there are many sites where you could find and read virtually any book online as long as you've paid a subscription fee but since I'm not always on the net I have to read physical books. And as I live near a library, I still have access to as many books as someone who reads their books on the web.

As for downloadable ebooks, I've never like them much either.
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That's cool ,but keep in mind you'll want to read a book that you will not be able to find in your surrounding areas, not either in your book shelf and you'll have to download it from the web right away, believe me, it's going to happen sooner or later.
 
Alumno said:
That's cool ,but keep in mind you'll want to read a book that you will not be able to find in your surrounding areas, not either in your book shelf and you'll have to download it from the web right away, believe me, it's going to happen sooner or later.
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That's very true. Where I live, paper and ink books are not easy to find. Oh yes, there are books being sold but not the ones I am looking for. And if I find what I want to read, the price puts me off. So I get my books from the Web. It's a lot easier to find the books I want to read and it's a lot cheaper. Well, you can't get cheaper than free, isn't it?
 
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