ebooks vs real books...pros and cons

[kfeusse]

what are the pros and cons of ebooks vs real books?

 

I am trying to decide which to go with....

 

here are a few I have thought of, please add to my list...

 

 

 

pros: ebooks are cheaper, you can print off only what you want, you don't have to wait for them to arrive in the mail,  can (maybe)put the books on a device, 

 

cons: can't resell ebooks (right?), you have to have a decent printer or access to a decent printer, 

 

 

 

your turn. 

 

thanks.

[Lanny]

There is something nice about being able to hold a real book in your hands and read it. Also, to have it available for reference in the future (nice for Math and Science textbooks, etc.)

 

Pros for eBooks are that you get them instantly. They do not take up space.  DD is about to get her first experience with eBooks. TTUISD migrated to new Math courses that use eBooks, last September (at least that's true for their High School Math courses, I'm not sure about Middle School and Elementary school courses) so the next Math course she enrolls in, she will buy (rent?) an eBook. I think the licenses are good for one year.

 

We live in South America, so for us the Shipping costs are high. With eBooks, there is no Shipping cost, so for those of us overseas, that's a big plus.

 

Both forms have their pluses and minuses. I think the eBooks would be harder on the eyes, but am assuming that. The eBooks can tie in with a lot of web based stuff and be updated on-the-fly if necessary, for revisions. 

 

 

Edited March 16, 2017 by Lanny

[wendyroo]

I LOVE ebooks...except for when through user error or technology failure or poor design I find myself struggling constantly to find our place in them.  With a physical book, I stick a book mark in and can open it confidently the next day to exactly the right place.  Sometimes ebooks work just as seamlessly, but when they don't, it adds a huge headache to my day.

 

Wendy

[EKS]

Are you talking about e-books for everything or just a certain subset of your materials (like books with a workbook element)?

 

I vastly prefer real books for several reasons.

 

When I'm planning, I find real books easier to look through quickly to get a sense of how the book is structured, what's in it, how long each lesson will take, etc.

 

I prefer holding a regular book and moving through it physically.  When I read an e-book, I find I miss the sense of knowing where I am.

 

An e-reader is just another screen, and my children and I have too much screen time in our lives.

 

For my own classes (I'm in graduate school), I like being able to mark up my books with a pencil and use sticky notes to mark important passages.  I realize that e-books also have this functionality, but, again, I like to know where things are physically.

 

That said, e-books can be convenient for travel.

 

You may find this article interesting:  https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/reading-paper-screens/

[kfeusse]

I am looking at Biblioplan for our history next year.  I can buy everything in book form....or I can buy it all on e-book....or I can get a mix.

 

 

 

One thing I think about when I buy curriculum is resale value...and you can't resell ebooks, right?? So is it worthy my money now to buy real books so I can resell them later?  

[Bluegoat]

Ok, things I dislike about ebooks:

 

I find it harder to flip between sections

They aren't great for illustrations

You can't lend them

Printing can sometimes be a pain

I don't find that I browse them in the same way.

 

Also - I am not sure how this applies to all types, but in some cases you don't quite own the book - it can be removed from your device somehow. 

 

Pros are what others have said. 

 

 

[mommaduck]

I'm a bibliophile that had to just destroy thousands of dollars of books, because we rented a place that ended up with an issue.

 

I'm relying on digital and tablets. My digital library is multiple times what my "real" library was. I can carry it all on an sd card or flash drive. Calibre is awesome as organisation. Everyone can read on both tablets and smartphones. My last smartphone had over 2000 books downloaded to it. There are MANY places to acquire free books and files (legitimately, NOT pirated...author deals, free worksheet shares, etc). If it's a book that isn't free, but something of value, the price is often lower than purchasing a paper book. Less waste. Easier when moving. 

[regentrude]

I have not found ebooks cheaper than used print copies. Especially for textbooks. 

 

Things that don't work well with ebooks:

Flipping around / browsing

Viewing a two page spread with illustrations and graphs

Marking/annotating - you need special software and a tablet to scribble in your books. 

 

I vastly prefer real books.

 

The big advantage of ebooks is portability. But people don't read a textbook on a cell phone screen. 

Edited March 16, 2017 by regentrude

[mommaduck]

My teens actually do read textbooks on their tablets.

[regentrude]

My teens actually do read textbooks on their tablets.

 

science and math? How do they handle figures and flipping around between examples and theory?

And how big is their screen?

[mommaduck]

7-8in, Depending upon whose tablet. They work their problems in a notebook, just as I did when I was in highschool and college. They also know how to bookmark. 

 

One kid's tablet broke and he's been using his smartphone (and old one that was passed down...not a large screen). He's been working through it just fine for the moment.

Edited March 16, 2017 by mommaduck

[shawthorne44]

Personally, I wouldn't get an e-book if I were planning on printing.   If it were an e-book workbook I go with a program that allowed the pdf to be written on with the tablet.   

Calibre can help you get around the disappearing e-book.   Once you get it, you upload it to Calibre and they can't take it away.   It chaps my hide that you can 'buy' something, and then the company can just take it away later.   

I think both have a place.   I read myself to sleep and I go to sleep much faster using my Paperwhite e-reader than a real book.   I think it is that I can turn the light off.  

 

For me, the determination is based on price and availability.  

[madteaparty]

I hate using an e-reader, so there's that.

The only advantage here is, DS can look up a word right on the page (when reading in a foreign language, for example).

 

I also do like to highlight things and i think it's possible to assemble everything I've highlighted into one document.

Edited March 16, 2017 by madteaparty

[lanalouwho]

I prefer e-books most of the time for the same reasons previously mentioned. Cheaper, instantly available, no storage space needed, portable. I don't like to write in real books, but I can highlight and notate e-books guilt-free.

Reference books such as encyclopedias are better in hardcopy. And of course, some real books are just plain beautiful. E-books will never have that feeling.

 

 

Sent from my HTCD160LVW using Tapatalk

[Bluegoat]

Space has become such a big issue in my life. At a certain point my strong preference for paper books is irrelevant. I keep what I have, and occasionally do get new things, but it's become a one in, one out situation! I packed up the simplest picture books in totes  to save for baby and get them out of the way. Ditto school materials for the future.

 

So my answer is SPACE/weight. Either you can swing it, or you can't.

 

I feel like you guys are talking about reference books, though (flipping between sections, printing...) and I make room for paper copies of those. My new readers also strongly prefer paper books. So hings ike Busy Times and Scholastic Level 3 books are all in paper copies. But! they are cheap and if they get lost or ruined, its basically OK.

 

I was thinking school books because I thought that was the OPs interest.

 

But any books with lots of pictures, or maps, will be an issue, which could be books about art nature, biography.  As far as flipping, I find I do that with a lot of non-fiction.

[JenneinCA]

For most things I prefer ebooks because I prefer a larger font size than is commonly produced. Old eyes and little print don't work well together. For reference books I can deal with the smaller print for a short time, but I really really like the bigger font.

[mommaduck]

Not everyone uses books in the same manner. Some of us are flippers (I am), but some of us are also dealing with limitations of life circumstances. E-books can be a blessing.

[domestic_engineer]

Specifically for Biblioplan, though ....  

Companion (that's the one with the textbook info, right?) ... I'd choose the e-book & NOT print it out.  I bought BP for two years ... The first time I bought a physical copy of the companion; the second time I bought the eBook version.  There's a lot of color in the companion.  So self-printing would be expensive.  That color is often used in producing pictures ... lots of pictures .... lots of small pictures.  I liked to be able to zoom in and see the pictures bigger .... you can't do that with a physical copy.  

 

Family Guide .... you could go either way.  You DO do a lot of flipping back and forth, but it could be just as easy to print off the booklist pages and use them in conjunction with your computer screen.  eBook version would be searchable, IIRC.

 

Cool Guides ... do you have more than one student that will be using a book?  If so, then buying the ebook and printing multiple copies of a page may be preferred.  This book may be dictated more by convenience and/or environmental concerns.  I think you could go either way.

 

In making the decision, think, too, of who will be using the books .... You're probably the only one using the Family Guide; so what are your preferences?  The Companion could be read by you, or your spouse, or by your students; what are their preferences?

 

[G5052]

I'm teaching a class this year with an ebook that requires a separate app, and I'm not fond of it. My students have mastered making sticky notes in theirs and flipping around, but I find myself printing out the pages that I need so I can mark them up. I don't print the whole thing, just certain pages.

 

For me at least, it hasn't been a positive for the way I prep and teach. Next year will be the same, and then they may offer a print version.

 

My college kid has three classes with ebooks, all free. It does reduce textbook costs, and he's comfortable with them. His economics professor is really complaining though because he used a book that was less than $10 used on Amazon, and they forced him to the ebook with only a month's notice. So he's rewriting the materials just a step ahead of the students!

[bethben]

I like ebooks for myself because I tend to do the majority of my reading when I'm blow drying my hair, brushing my teeth, or doing the dishes.  I love being able to stick my kindle down and not have to put a weight on it to keep my page open.  Anything that I can't read straight through and require a bit of jumping around, I prefer a real book.  It's so much easier to jump to the section you need rather than having to scroll through ebook pages.

[mamamoose]

I am looking at Biblioplan for our history next year. I can buy everything in book form....or I can buy it all on e-book....or I can get a mix.

 

 

 

One thing I think about when I buy curriculum is resale value...and you can't resell ebooks, right?? So is it worthy my money now to buy real books so I can resell them later?

I like the companion in hard copy; I don't like to read digitally, and it's nice on the shelf for the kids to pick up and look through. I got everything else hard copy this year and haven't used it as much as I thought we would. Had I gotten it e-copy I could have just printed what we needed. So for next year, I got the companion and remember the days in hard copy and everything else digitally.

[shawthorne44]

Not everyone uses books in the same manner. Some of us are flippers (I am), but some of us are also dealing with limitations of life circumstances. E-books can be a blessing.

 

That is so true.   One of the stated advantages of physical books is that people can write in them.  Any more writing in a book than a gift note in the front seems like a tiny blasphemy to me.  

[Hunter]

I use a combination.

 

Free flowing text and narratives works best as eBooks. So I have gradually been learning how to self-educate and teach with them more.

 

I need a few SMALL hard copies that I mark up and bookmark and use as spines.

 

Life frequently poops on me and surprises me. I have to adapt and fly by the seat of my pants.

 

I want to look into an eReader that doesn't need to be updated and has a slot for a large storage card, to load a ton of eBooks that I own outright and that I got free. I need this separate from my Kindle Paperwhite and tablet. I also want a dedicated small device to just load with audiobooks, such as an old cell phone not hooked up to a carrier; it needs a card slot.

 

When going mostly eBook, multiple devices are needed to read them comfortably and reliably.

[ondreeuh]

One thing I love about eBooks is that I can put everything on one iPad. Between the Kindle app and iBooks, I can put almost all of my kids' textbooks and literature on there. They use audiobooks too, and I have them split between Audible, iTunes, and Learning Ally. I use a small laptop and put all of my stuff on that. Since my kids take outside classes, the kid not in class has to bring work to do while we wait, and this makes it so easy.  That said, I do buy a physical copy of each textbook too, as we use that most of the time. My high schooler prefers to read with the Kindle app on his iPad, so I use Calibre to manage my ebooks.

[Hunter]

I looked at eReaders other than Kindle and Nook and am more confused than ever. I cannot seem to figure out how to purchase most of them, and don't even know which ones were ever even released.

[Dmmetler]

Well, my DD's college math class only has an e-book, and after the first few weeks, I went online and bought a used copy of the textbook one edition back-because it was just plain HARD to read on a computer screen, and the darned thing isn't iPad compatible. This way she can do the reading and practice problems, and then go to the computer to submit the graded assignment (which is different for each student, and if you redo it later, like, say, to study for finals, gives you totally new questions).

 

I suspect I may be doing that for other classes that use e-books, too.

[Hunter]

Not everyone uses books in the same manner. Some of us are flippers (I am), but some of us are also dealing with limitations of life circumstances. E-books can be a blessing.

To reduce flipping, I sometimes have the book open on two devices at the same time.

 

At times I have had an assortment of devices to choose from. It is certainly easier to use certain kinds of digital on the certain kinds of devices. When I am down to just one or two junk devices, I restrict my digital use to the ones easiest to use on those devices. Mostly free flowing text narratives.

 

Sometimes doing a certain thing a bit awkwardly allows us an entire lifestyle that makes life easier in general.

 

Some people spend twice as long cutting up veggies with a single knife, and have fewer kitchen prep tools, so they can have a smaller kitchen, so they can have a less stressful job, and be home more. Choosing to go mostly digital sometimes is awkward, but worth it for some of us. Or our only option.

 

Never mind not having many kitchen tools, I don't even have a real kitchen right now. :lol: And it IS worth it. I live in a small extended-stay hotel type room nestled in a corner of a luxury high-rise, in a neighborhood that is one of the most exclusive in the USA. I guess they get a tax break for letting a few riff raff live here. I make due with my electric kettle, electric 2-tier food steamer, and little 8 can sized electrothermal cooler.

 

I only have a very few small hardcopy books, but a ton of eBooks.

 

I love my neighborhood. I even love my little room; it is so cozy and well maintained. And I'm out and about the city most of the time anyway. I'm often a bit too hyper to stay home.

 

Very few of us can have it all. We have to prioritize what is most attractive and important to us.

[happypamama]

It depends. For some things, I like e-book. All of my History Odyssey and REAL Science Odyssey books (nine total, I think) are in e-book form, and I just got an Ellen McHenry pack that way as well. They were significantly cheaper, are easy to store for the next kid (I have them backed up multiple places), and easy to print if something gets messed up or for the next kid. I have a good printer with cheap ink, which helps a ton. Maybe all total, my base cost for the first kid is the same or higher with Printing, but then it's dirt cheap for subsequent kids.

 

For textbooks, reference materials, etc., I prefer real paper books most of the time. Getting Started With Spanish and the Bluedorn's logic books work well in Kindle form. Those are books that my students and I are reading and working through together simultaneously, so having two devices with them is really helpful. But I initially bought Writing With Skill in PDF form and found it too clunky. For most things I prefer paper.

 

For novels, 12yo prefers paper so I almost always use paper for him. 15yo likes e-books for novels, but they're not always feasible, so she gets a mix. Little ones only get paper.

[OrganicJen]

I like both and I still buy both ebooks and paper books. I like e-books for the fact that I can grab my kindle if I'm going somewhere and have a bunch of books to choose from in one small package. But I enjoy reading and prefer the feeling of holding real books. So I have a lot of both.

[OrganicJen]

For school books though, I strongly prefer real books. I hate e books for school. We use devices very little in school and sometimes do roadschooling so real books are needed for us.

[vonfirmath]

There is something nice about being able to hold a real book in your hands and read it. Also, to have it available for reference in the future (nice for Math and Science textbooks, etc.)

 

Pros for eBooks are that you get them instantly. They do not take up space.  DD is about to get her first experience with eBooks. TTUISD migrated to new Math courses that use eBooks, last September (at least that's true for their High School Math courses, I'm not sure about Middle School and Elementary school courses) so the next Math course she enrolls in, she will buy (rent?) an eBook. I think the licenses are good for one year.

 

We live in South America, so for us the Shipping costs are high. With eBooks, there is no Shipping cost, so for those of us overseas, that's a big plus.

 

Both forms have their pluses and minuses. I think the eBooks would be harder on the eyes, but am assuming that. The eBooks can tie in with a lot of web based stuff and be updated on-the-fly if necessary, for revisions. 

 

I read ebooks on the Kindle. In that format, they are not hard on the eyes at all.  I have not tried a math type book that way. I do know reading the Bible in ebook form is occasionally frustrating. Its not as easy to flip back and forth. But I guess if I did it more I'd get used to it. But anything that is mostly reading should work fine in ebook form.

 

Even math if you are good at accurately recording the math problems you are working (we are working on this with my son)

 

To some extent, it appears schools are going to doing more and more online. The high schoolers who I work with at church have a school issued computer (screen and keyboard, but no disk drives) where they do a lot of their work on the cloud.

[vonfirmath]

For most things I prefer ebooks because I prefer a larger font size than is commonly produced. Old eyes and little print don't work well together. For reference books I can deal with the smaller print for a short time, but I really really like the bigger font.

 

OOOh. Yes I LOVE the ability to change font size on my ebooks

[shawthorne44]

I had to go a month without my paperwhite because it was lost.   The ordeal resulted in it being named, "My Precious" when it was found.    

[boscopup]

I use a mixture. For the curriculum itself, I'll often do the pdf version. If I need to print in black and white, I can do so very cheaply on my laser printer and free paper from Staples.

 

For the books we read aloud and the readers for the kids, I'll usually buy used hard copies. They're usually less than the Kindle version. Some books that are free or 99 cents on Kindle I'll just buy the Kindle version.

 

I just bought all the books I needed for BYL 5 and EiL1, plus a couple history texts (one being a college textbook) and spent about $100 on 35 books. Kindle versions would very likely have cost more. The college history textbook was $3.98 (plus 30% off for Black Friday), and the Kindle version of that would be much, much more... Probably at least $50...maybe $75.

 

My kids all have Kindle Paperwhites, so we do borrow a lot of ebooks from the library. I also have Kindle version of the SOTW series (and hard copy, but even I'm reading mostly off the Kindle lately because I can't find what I did with the paper book).

 

Anyway, what I do in your situation is create a spreadsheet with all the books you need, then look them up on Amazon to get kindle price, then look on your favorite used book site (I like Better World Books) and price it there. Compare and see which books you should get hard copies of.

 

And regarding the other issues of ebooks... You cannot resell them. They are yours forever. You can remove the DRM via Calibre to keep your book from disappearing. I've previously used that to get the book on my kids' devices before Amazon had the family account stuff. Now I can just share the book with my kids' devices because I'm an adult family member on my husband's account, and the kids are kids on his family account.

[stutterfish]

I love real books. I can't click or skim easily through ebooks. For this reason I like to have a copy of my textbooks in paper form. I also like real books for those large colourful reference books. (They are far less entertaining in ebook format.)

 

I have no issue with curriculum workbooks being in pdf format and printing them myself. I have an aversion to people writing in real books, even when they are workbooks, so this avoids the issue! It also means I can use the curriculum with siblings, and print off multiple copies, if appropriate.

 

I have also found some advantages to fiction ebooks, apart from the usual storage space advantages:

 

Font size - being able to change the font size or contrast when reading on a tablet can make a huge difference for me when my eyes are tired, and for my children who find reading difficult.

 

Whispersync - a great Kindle app feature where audio and book versions are sychronised. It's been transformative for my child who was a late reader and needs help with vocabulary and pronouncing ion.

 

Its good to be able to combine ebooks and real books. They both have their uses.

Edited December 10, 2017 by stutterfish

[8filltheheart]

I love books. Too much. We just moved and our library of books is just about killing me. They weigh a lot. I told my Dh last nigh that as much as it pains me to say it, I think I need to get rid of some of my books. We have enough space, so that isn't an issue. It is just that I don't need all the books we have anymore. Some of our books are very kid specific. Others are books that I love bc of their binding and paper. (Beautiful older books with high quality binding paper and binding weigh a ton!). To decide which books to get rid of will be equally painful!

 

But, equally, I do not like Ebooks. I love a physical book in my hands.

[YodaGirl]

I'm starting to wish that a lot of my physical books were kindle books.

 

Ebooks are easier to access. My bookshelves are labeled and organized, but it's still easier to just pull them up as opposed to going to the other room...or maybe we're just lazy. At any rate, if we're out and about, I can pull up any book without having to go home and get it. Ebooks are also easier (lighter) to store or pack around.

 

I *love* books, and I used to be pretty well anti-ebook. The more I use them, the more comfortable I am with them, and the more benefits I see. Since I am an avid reader, it allows me to be able to access a wide variety of books without going to the bookstore or the library. I have slowly adapted to the benefits of highlighting and note-taking in ebooks, as well, which has allowed more freedom (and the ability to correct mistakes if I decide to change what's highlighted/marked).

 

Most reference books & textbooks that I purchase are physical copies, but everything else is digital. Read aloud are much easier with kindle books because they can follow along on their own kindles while I read.

 

Ebooks tend to be cheaper for us by far.

 

I can only think of two cons, one of which is also a pro. First, if I buy an ebook for my kiddos, they won't be able to take it with them when they're grown. That's kinda sad, given I still have my book collection from when I was a kid. On the other hand, that book collection is currently on shelves, in my oldest's room, overwhelming her. >.> Secondly, kids can just do a search for reading comprehension answers instead of learning to physically go back through the text to find the answers. It's nice for me, but it could hinder skills that I feel are valuable.

[pottsmatt]

I like real books. But the problem to me is not rather what's better - real or e-book but my addiction to the new hardcovers. I mean I have a lot of e-books on my smartphone and paper books at home that I haven't read yet. But every time I occasionally enter the bookstore I can leave it without buying a new book. Does anybody have similar problem, how to deal with it? Or how to make yourself read your old books?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited December 21, 2017 by pottsmatt

[shawthorne44]

I like real books. But the problem to me is not rather what's better - real or e-book but my addiction to the new hardcovers. I mean I have a lot of e-books on my smartphone and paper books at home that I haven't read yet. But every time I occasionally enter the bookstore I can leave it without buying a new book. Does anybody have similar problem, how to deal with it? Or how to make yourself read your old books?

 

Don't go into the bookstore.   Really, that is the only thing that works for me to not buy any.  I also have rules that limit my quantity when I do go in.  

 

• In new bookstores, I am only allowed what I can carry in one hand.   
• In used bookstores, I am allowed one basket full.  Eventually it get heavy and I want to leave so I don't have to carry it.  
• In libraries, I am limited to what I can carry in one trip, extremely creative stacking methods are allowed.  Although because of homeschooling and since picture books are so big and quick and I'm not just checking out for myself, a wagon is allowed.  

[MarkT]

My son and I watched a Netflix documentary based on a book. I decided I also wanted to read the book. It was pretty nice down-loading it right away from the library,

 

Normally I prefer print books especially when sitting and reading in the sun where my iPad gets washed out.

[tuesdayschild]

I am looking at Biblioplan for our history next year.  I can buy everything in book form....or I can buy it all on e-book....or I can get a mix.

 

 

 

One thing I think about when I buy curriculum is resale value...and you can't resell ebooks, right?? So is it worthy my money now to buy real books so I can resell them later?  

If it hadn't been so costly to ship BP history texts down here I would have purchased them.  It was too costly so we went with the ebooks, which I ended up printing out incrementally so that we could read a physical copy.  Now, years later, I would find a way to budget things so that we could have the actual books.

 

No need to answer these questions, I'm just tossing thoughts around.

Can you purchase the physical books 2nd hand?

Do BP items resale well there?

 

Grin.   e.books are never go to help recoup any monies outlaid

The schedules, book suggestions, and student tests worked out fine in ebook for us though. (not sure, do they have those items in a physical copy now?)

[Mommyof1]

Not fond of books on screen. I prefer real books. I feel real books are important for my little one and she will be using those for a long time over ebooks. We actually use audio books a lot. I prefer hearing the books. For my voice sake my daughter listens to a lot of stories. Dad and I read real books to her daily. DD5.

[TheAttachedMama]

I prefer print books when possible. I believe that comprehension is always better with print books.

 

But I have nothing against ebooks. Many times they are most cost effective, take up less space, and are more convenient. Plus, my dyslexic kids enjoy doing immersion reading with kindle and audible linked together.

 

BUT, as a true bibliophile, there is something about the physical process of reading a “real†book: opening the cover, the smell (haha), the act of turning a page, book marking it, seeing the progress made, etc etc