Thoughts and opinions: eBooks or old school?

[somberg]

Hi, everyone. Looking at replacing some of the books I was stupid enough to git rid of awhile ago when I didn't think I would be returning to this hobby. Since at least a few of them appear to be available in eBook (e.g.: Kindle) format now, my question is which format--electronic vs hard copy (paper/hardback)--you prefer, and what do you consider to be the important advantages and disadvantages from a modeler's perspective of each. I have my own thoughts, but want to hear what other people think without being tainted by my opinion.

For years I said that I would never, ever get an e-reader. I love books, love to collect them, and love to hold them in my hand. Eventually for some reason that I do not precisely recall, I bought a kindle and never looked back. In fact, today I hate it when I have to read a book that is not in kindle format. The advantages to me are many, starting with the fact that my aging eyes have a hard time reading the small print found in many books. With my kindle, I can make them whatever size I desire. There is a book I wanted to read that was not available as an e-book so I put off buying it. Finally I heard so many good things about it that I ordered a paperback copy from Amazon. Now I am not even sure I will be able to finish it because the font is so damn tiny. The second reason (in no particular order) is that I can read in bed at night without disturbing my wife. The third reason is that some books are so heavy that I find them hard to hold comfortably. Another reason is that when I go on a trip I do not have to carry a stack of books with me. I also love the fact that I can click on a word and instantly get a definition. My memory is not so great and some books have so many characters that I have a hard time remembering them all. With an e-book, I can use the search function to find the first time that character was mentioned (this is also useful for things other than characters in a story).

The one disadvantage I can think of is that some books, just are not formatted very well for e-readers. This is particularly true for books with a lot of illustrations, charts, etc. I suspect that this might be an issue for some model building books.

There you have it. Hope it helps.

Ben