So, whats everyone's opinions on real books vs ebooks? and what do we think about Traditional (big 6) publishers versus Indie and Self published books?
I personally love real books, but have an eReader for travel and for all those free or cheap ebooks you can get from all sorts of places on the web.
I have read terrible books from both types of publishing and have also read some really great ones from both. But i know there's a widespread discrimination against Indie and Self published authors and books. Probably because there's not much quality control on Indie books, but there ARE websites (like this one http://awesomeindies.net/) which actually list the GOOD ones. So what do we think? :)

I get most of my books as ebooks now. Much as I love real books in principle, a Kindle just makes reading so convenient, which means I read more. I still get a few physical copies, but mostly it's ebooks. What I'd like to see is package deals - buy the physical book and get the ebook as well, for free. Best of both worlds, and it obviously doesn't cost the publisher anything to do this.

usually, when I saw an expensive book at the bookstore, I'll search for it's ebook at the internet, if it's good enough, then I'll buy the real copy, but if it's not, then I'll just red the ebook

http://www.the-digital-reader.com/2012/ ... rs-career/

I believe that this is an inevitable process, and that many amazing works will rise to the top. Maybe not perfectly, but then again that doesn't seem to happen very often with traditional publishing either. (http://www.onlinecollege.org/2010/05/17 ... -rejected/)

Often, people need agents to be able to format works correctly and appeal in a way to get looked at for more than a few seconds by a publishing company. Now, individuals can easily use that money and time to appeal directly to potential readers with more efficient results.

I'm very traditionalist about books. I don't enjoy reading eBooks, and the idea of carrying a valuable eReader is not appealing. It's the feel, the look, and the idea of possessing a hard copy I most value in it. However, it is indeed inevitable that it pans out in favour of digital versions and publishing. With the set up now, there's no way traditional books can compete. Personally, that's a shame.

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The criteria at awesomeindies seems really specific. Lots of awesome books don't strictly adhere to such a "list".

I like both hard copies and ebooks but nowadays I am reading ebooks a lot more. I download it for free and read it on my laptop. I found it a little difficult in the beginning but now I am as comfortable with it as I am with a hard copy (mainly due to being forced to read research papers online). I am sure when I buy a Kindle I will like it a lot more.
@Nero: I was like that too but now it doesn't matter to me. In the past two years, I have lived in 3 different cities and I can't imagine lugging my hard copies where ever I move. Convenience far outweighs the awesome feeling of owning real books.

nathanielandbartimaeus wrote:I like both hard copies and ebooks but nowadays I am reading ebooks a lot more. I download it for free and read it on my laptop. I found it a little difficult in the beginning but now I am as comfortable with it as I am with a hard copy (mainly due to being forced to read research papers online). I am sure when I buy a Kindle I will like it a lot more.
@Nero: I was like that too but now it doesn't matter to me. In the past two years, I have lived in 3 different cities and I can't imagine lugging my hard copies where ever I move. Convenience far outweighs the awesome feeling of owning real books.

Yeah, I read papers online mostly. Textbooks, I agree, are a hassle. The only books I do enjoy in hardcopy are novels. I cannot read a novel online. I can't focus, I miss words, etc.

Sentynel wrote:I get most of my books as ebooks now. Much as I love real books in principle, a Kindle just makes reading so convenient, which means I read more. I still get a few physical copies, but mostly it's ebooks. What I'd like to see is package deals - buy the physical book and get the ebook as well, for free. Best of both worlds, and it obviously doesn't cost the publisher anything to do this.

Basically this.

I will say that the advent of ebooks makes it a lot easier to, uh, "obtain" books earlier than the release date in the country that one resides in. <_<

When I read ebooks I feel like I'm just surfing the internet, not actually reading. I'll get used to that soon enough, but for the moment it just feels weird.

I've got secondhand bookstore and library addictions, so I don't really buy enough books to justify the monetary/environmental expense of an actual e-reader; but I've got a netbook that I read e-books on sometimes for convenience and it's nice to have the option. TBH though my program requires me to spend a large chunk of each day on the computer so I'd rather not spend even more in addition to that, hurts my eyes.

I can't really say much about indie books, always been more of an indie webcomics and podcasts person myself.

Print, - I like making notes in the margins.

I own a kindle, and I must say it's very convenient, because of the size (try Reading a 1200p book confortably in bed), the highlights, the costs and the amount of books you can store in it. I also love traditional books, but when you're moving, you can't travel with 50 hardcovers

Free books! I know that sounds cheap. My sister owns a Kobo, but I found that the phone I have has the e-book feature as well. I read books on it was well and have mostly settled for the free ones. Which are mostly classics like Treasure Island, Sherlock and Alice in wonderland. Also most of my printed books have ether been presents, borrowed from friends, read at the library or have been thrown out by someone else. My mom is also a hoarder of books, and finally we are going to have a library. Its exciting because we have boxes of books, some that haven't been opened before I was born. Anyway, you wouldn't believe how many books we find that people have thrown away. We where lucky once, well looking at houses, one of the librarians at the university had died. There was a big messy pile of books that had been thrown all over the front yard and porch. We asked the retailer and he said we could take them, because they where going to the dump.
Anyway, to really answer that question it really depends. I find that a printed book is that much more then an e-book, because a book is something you can physically hold. Where an e-book is more just printed information. It also depends how the printed book was made. Is it a cheap paper back? (although that will soon hold nostalgia in it) or was it all hand made?
I have learned how to sew three types of books, and was busy doing a lot of that last year, as well as paper making. If I was to choose a e-book over a hand made book, leather bound, with hand made paper, printed not by computer but as an etching, or a litho? (or even better hand written!(considering that we're losing cursive writing and the ability to read it) where some work has actually been put into the making of the book in itself. Hands down I would say that hard copy is way better, because its also a work of art. Thing is that's really expensive and time consuming, so I don't have one, doesn't mean I wouldn't want one.

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AHHH! I wanted to edit and go though that post! Bad Internet messed up on me.

Freee boks are only free because the author's dead and therefore they don't have to worry about copyright.

Of course a high-quality printed book is better than an e-book, but if you're just looking for something cheap and comfortable, you're better off with an e-reader.

Printed information?I don't think so, you can get regular stories on e-book, so it's not really 'information' (otherwise, every book would be printed information), and it's not actually printed.