- #1
diogenesNY
- 229
- 240
Just something I have been thinking about lately.
In my own experience, I generally prefer books and paper for the majority of my reading, but with some qualifiers.
I do most of my 'ephemeral' reading (e.g. forums, email, random web articles and news, etc) online and off the screen. If I am going to read a book, I actually like to read a book. Also, articles and papers - I prefer to print them out, especially if I expect to refer to them a number of times, and especially especially if I am likely to scribble margin notes, comments, and the like... as I am want to do. FWIW, I usually carry a clipboard around with me that has a spiral notebook that I take notes in, and also sheets of printout stuffed under the notebook that I will catch a peek at when I have a chance and the inclination.
It also happens that I come across a lot of reading as etexts and ebooks which I need to or would like to read, but first I usually see if I can find a copy of the book in question at the library (thankfully I have access to a really good system) and borrow the actual book if i can. Failing that, I often enough wind up reading something on a computer screen, which I don't like so much as an aesthetic experience.
One big convenient advantage of (openly accessible) etexts is the ability to link to it on a forum or include a link in an email. Very useful when sharing or even citing a source.
No strong moral or practical imperatives here. I am just fumblingly musing on something I have been thinking about lately, and would be interested in other people's takes on the matter.
diogenesNY
In my own experience, I generally prefer books and paper for the majority of my reading, but with some qualifiers.
I do most of my 'ephemeral' reading (e.g. forums, email, random web articles and news, etc) online and off the screen. If I am going to read a book, I actually like to read a book. Also, articles and papers - I prefer to print them out, especially if I expect to refer to them a number of times, and especially especially if I am likely to scribble margin notes, comments, and the like... as I am want to do. FWIW, I usually carry a clipboard around with me that has a spiral notebook that I take notes in, and also sheets of printout stuffed under the notebook that I will catch a peek at when I have a chance and the inclination.
It also happens that I come across a lot of reading as etexts and ebooks which I need to or would like to read, but first I usually see if I can find a copy of the book in question at the library (thankfully I have access to a really good system) and borrow the actual book if i can. Failing that, I often enough wind up reading something on a computer screen, which I don't like so much as an aesthetic experience.
One big convenient advantage of (openly accessible) etexts is the ability to link to it on a forum or include a link in an email. Very useful when sharing or even citing a source.
No strong moral or practical imperatives here. I am just fumblingly musing on something I have been thinking about lately, and would be interested in other people's takes on the matter.
diogenesNY