I personally have never used an ebook before. When I go to read, I prefer to do so in a more isolated environment where I am as far away as possible from any distractions because for me, reading is about losing myself in the words and the stories I am reading. I also love being able to physically flip the pages–it just adds to the experience.That being said, I do see how ebooks are convenient in todays constantly and rapidly changing world. According to this CBS News article, “Ten years ago there were about 4,000 independent bookstores in the U.S. Today, there’s less than HALF that.” The article also states that for ebooks, “Sales will go from about $150 million last year . . . to an estimated billion-dollar business by 2012, as new products from tech companies like Apple flood the market.” I just hope that with the increasing number of new products, they continue to promote reading and don’t all become too tablet-like.
I have never used an e-book before either and am actually quite intimidated by them. It makes me a bit sad that the number of bookstores has decreased so much over the years. I remember as a child seeing a lot of bookstores around me going out of business, something that I now understand the reason for.
As far as distractions go, it doesn’t seem as if ebooks would be very good in that department. Many devices that display ebooks often have other functions, such as internet access, that makes it tempting to quit the reading and do something else. If ebooks do end up supplanting physical books, they could very well end up greatly changing the reading experience for many people.
I agree with the points discussed in this thread. For me, I only seem to have time to read the books that I want to read (as opposed to assignments) while on vacation. I like to try to minimize my use of technology on vacations so it can be relaxing. Ebooks blur that line so I prefer physical books. They truly allow me to escape and relax.
I also like physically reading a book much better than a kindle. I have only tried it once (the class one) and I didn’t like it at all. My hope is that there are enough individuals that like physical books so the market isn’t destroyed.