The Reading Experience: Paper vs. Ebook

EPILOGUE: the future of print from EPILOGUEdoc on Vimeo.

This is a really interesting documentary on print books, their place in society, and what e-books mean for the reading experience. I’ll be the first to admit that the convenience of buying books instantly is a nice benefit to owning an e-book, but no matter how much I like my Nook, e-books can’t take the place of print. It’s the experience—holding the pages, smelling the paper and ink…

Ahem. Before I go into some sort of dreamy fantasy involving lots of free time and lots of books, I’ll just say that the video is worth a watch. The booksellers and others featured really get across the importance of print.


Also, while we’re on the topic of bookish videos, check out this awesome mashup of Lady Gaga and Harry Potter. (Thanks, Kaley for pointing it out!)

The E-Book Secret

Here’s the thing about e-books that no one tells you: They make you incapable of basic math.*

Seriously.

I’m pretty sure there’s something in e-readers that interferes with brain waves, thus causing a massive mathematical malfunction in humans. Because Tracey A.N. (after the Nook) doesn’t have the same mental capacity, at least when it comes to math, as Tracey B.N. (before the Nook).

As proof, I will humiliate myself by revealing what has become glaringly obvious to me over the past few months:

My brain believes $9.99 + $9.99 + $9.99 + $9.99 + $9.99 is less than $15.99.

For reals.

When I’m looking to buy a hardcover and see five books I reallywantneedtohave I weigh my options, ultimately picking the book I most want to read. I can’t pull the trigger on all five because, HELLO, $15.99 adds up!

But when I’m looking to buy an e-book I click away. Do you want to confirm this purchase for $9.99? HECK YES! And this one, for a book you only sort of want to read? Obviously! This goes on between Barnes & Nobel’s pop-up window and me until I’ve spend $80 without realizing it.

And THAT my friends is how e-books wipe the knowledge of basic math from your gray matter.

Anyone else experience this phenomenon?

P.S. We’ll be talking about Daughter of Smoke and Bone on Friday for the book club. If you’re on the fence about reading it, I encourage you to try. I won’t give away what I thought, but ... um ... you might want to try it.

*If your job depends on you using math, I highly suggest sticking with paper books. Don’t say I didn't warn you...