Digital vs printed. Which do you prefer?

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Harrison

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Which do you prefer and why?

For text based printed books like novels and manuals I generally now prefer digital ebooks via my Kindle v4, or for reference manuals on screen as it is fast to refer to them as PDFs or documents.

For full colour magazines or large format books like non fiction guides, table top books etc I still definitely prefer the printed versions. Digital versions for me just can't replace the tactile and high quality printing of a physical copy. A case in post recently was a Digital Photography book exploring exposure. I had the digital version, but it just wasn't working for me, so I purchased the printed version, which is a large scale A4+ sized book and it was like reading something completely different. No contest.

I am however starting to become more interested in digital magazines over printed ones purely because of storage. I love to keep all the old copies of my favourite monthly magazines, but they soon mount up and finding somewhere to store them is a nightmare... to the point where I've decided to get rid of most of my collected design and gaming magazines from past years and just retain the ones from the most recent 12 months. But having them in digital form means I can keep them all and they take up no physical space. I think however that to really benefit from digital versions of magazines you do need a large and high resolution monitor. Anything below 24" isn't good enough.
 
I'm approaching it as a visual medium, with digital versions as a direct replacement for traditional printed books, so audio books couldn't really be included.

I'm also a fan of audio books, especially when they are created as proper dramas and not just someone reading the book. It adds a whole new dimension to the original work. However I enjoy reading the books first before then listening to the audio books as I find it generates a lot more imagination about the characters and locations when listening as you have the additional narrative and descriptions that are never fully included in the abridged versions they tend to use for the audio versions.

Star Wars audio dramas are especially good. I also enjoy the BBC Tolkien audio dramas. Those are brilliant. Plus as my sister is blind she has a large collection of audio books I can borrow, and also to sit and listen to with her when i visit.
 
Printed page , dear boy.

nothing comes close to the feel of an old book.
 
I like using both formats for different things.

Real books/magazines when on holiday near a pool, just for the fact that paper is still better to read in the sun and I dont care if a book gets wet or damaged.

Ereader is great for my pdf manuals and schematics and the occasional book to have around.

The only real thing that stops me going digital full time is the fact that my Kindle has crashed on me before which is the least wanted thing ever when you're trying to just chill out and read.

And the battery being dead has scuppered me from reading before. Which admittedly is my fault, but as I only read to get away from technology, this is just an annoying inconveinience and reminder that I'm arsing around with tech again. :lol:

Until thats sorted it'll be a mixed use world for me :)

Above all, I prefer my Hardback collection of books, they look nice on a shelf too :D
 
For me it's digital all the way.
Sure, some things are still in paper, but as I have little room left, everything that isn't of high value, goes digital and the books go off to someone who really wants them.
 
Printed, any time I can afford it. I love the, erm, low cost of found e-books, but the experience is simply not the same (and while I don't generally suffer from eyestrain when working with computers, paper definitely is easier on the eyes.)
 
I mostly buy good old fashioned dead tree books still because I have a problem paying the same amount for a digital version of a product as I do a paper version. If there are no manufacturing costs involved and it cannot be sold on to another person after you are done with it then it should cost less.

Heather
 
I've been old skool until recently, when I decided not wanting to wait for a book to arrive from overseas and read it right away. So I got the ebook version and read it on my laptop. I think it was slightly cheaper too.

I'd really like the option to get an e-reader version only from some of my magazine subscriptions. I do prefer the paper versions but for some that I don't have a desire to preserve in the long run, I could do with an electronic version to save space. I mean, what are you going to do with 10-15 year old PC mags? A review of a Voodoo 3 Graphics card or a Pentium PC doesn't really have any nostalgia factor.
 
If I read a book, wich does not happen often I prefer printed, since my eyes are tired because of to much computer usage, so not reading anything that is complex on pc. If I am at work and get a complex document I print it, read it, and throw it in the bin. Not very environmental I know, but realy can read faster on paper.
 
I am mostly a printed fan, digital certainly has its advantages. Theoretically, if computers remained maintained, global networking remains functional and file types remain readable then it is likely that the digital medium of something would long outlive the physical version. This allows for things to be preserved and remain for future masses (allowing that there are those that maintain and keep these files in existence)

Though personally there is nothing like a good book. Yeah digital may be more convenient, but I've always preferred the physical object. Even if I can get the pdf of a book for free online, if I'm interested in it i'll hunt down the actual book. Its just nice to know you actually have the physical object that you can touch and feel with your own hands.

Though I would prefer digital over physical in the comic books and magazines 65rwa. Comic books are so fragile and flimsy, along with being easy to accidently damage. Magazines are like this to, but to a lesser extent. Being someone that likes to collect and maintain things I prefer to read that type of medium through digital. That why I minimize wear and damage on them.
 
Careful, pretty soon you won't be able to wipe your bum without some cheaply made electronics from China. This disposable electronics trend is not a positive one.
 
Reading a book or how-too is great to have a real paper book - theres somthing phyiscall connecting you to the information - however if its just a tech-manual or spec-sheet then an electronic format is perfectly fine - as long as the display medium provides a large enough - readable screen I am happy...

some times thought some specs / schematics need to be on paper as they are too huge to really get onto even a 21" VGA monitor.

so put me down for a bit of both - with a general preference to paper!
 
For me it's space and if your looking at a article on a mod in's nice to
be able to zoom in for a closer look..

:coffee:
 
It's gotta be a real paper book... I only tend to read Discworld novels and Programming books... I find it hard to read off a screen for long periods of time, but probably because I end up being distracted by the internet instead...

If I have schematics I prefer them printed out as a giant poster that I can stick on the wall and examine (and write notes on)
 
Both. Digital for the search ability and cut and paste, especially for code in books that don't come with disks. Printed as commodorejohn said "easier on the eyes" and sometimes easier to use while I'm working on something.
 
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