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Do You Prefer Reading a Real Book or iBooks?

Reading a Book w/ iBooks or a Real Book?

  • I prefer reading a real book

    Votes: 56 37.3%

  • I prefer reading an iBook

    Votes: 94 62.7%
  • Total voters
    150
It's a tough call. If we go for feel alone I prefer real books, I love turning the pages, I love how books smell, I love having a bookshelf full of books and going to second hand bookstores. That's got a lot to do with how I was raised though.

But iBooks have a lot of advantages: I can get a new book with just a few taps, I can carry a bunch of them on my iPad and it doesn't make my purse heavier, I love being able to select a word or phrase and find out its meaning, highlight it, add a note or search... For people who have vision problems being able to change the font size and contrast are great features to have too.

So while I'm not thinking of giving up real books anytime soon I'm also enjoying iBooks more and more.

EDIT: I definitely prefer the iPad for textbooks though.
 
Interesting question because I prefer an eReader to iPad, but an iPad to a real book.

Kindle 3 is a near perfect reading experience for me.
 
I am enjoying reading on my iPad but I do worry about reading in the bath. I have in the past fallen asleep and woken up with a wet, soggy book which wouldn't be very good if that happened to my iPad :eek:
 
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Real books don't have built a built in Dictionary, Wiki, or Search capability, so I voted iBook. I can't tell you how nice it is to pick up an iBook after not reading for a couple weeks, come across a person's name or place that has been previously introduced, and use the Search feature to quickly refresh my memory about where I'd seen it before. The quick dictionary action has also been incredibly useful.
 
Between the adjustable font sizes and not having to worry about getting the light just right, it's a lot easier for me tom read an eBook.
 
For everyday paperbacks or best-sellers, I prefer to read on an eReader of some sort, with the iPad being my last choice in eReaders (and even then...iBooks being lower preference than the Kindle app). I find the iPad to be an inferior eReader in almost every situation other than low/no ambient lighting. Its too big and the screen just doesn't look that good to me relative to a Kindle or Nook.

But I do enjoy the fact that I can carry multiple books on the iPad or any other eReader. I tend to read 3-5 books simultaneously, maybe a little from each one in a single session or alternate between several throughout the week. You just can't carry 3-5 hardcovers with you when traveling, its impractical. Its also quite nice when using a connected eReader to jump out to the browser and do some 'backstory' reading on a particular geographic location that is being discussed in the book.
 
My preference is definitely reading an e-book. I use Stanza on both my iPhone and iPad (been using that since before iBooks was an option). When I'm at home, I read from the iPad, and when I'm out and about i use my iPhone. It's just so much more portable than real books, and even the iPad or another e-reader. I read during breaks at work, as well as when I'm waiting in line or something like that.

I'm reading so much more than if I was reading from a real book. You can't pull those babies out of your pocket. And of course, when I'm at home I use the iPad. It's just so much easier than having to mess with real books. I use to have tons of books lying around.
 
iBooks definitely. I never thought a Kindle was worth the price because ALL you can do with it is read, so I never got one. But reading on an iPad is so much better because you can stop and look something up in a second, check your email, etc and never lose your 'page'.
I wish I had the money back for all the booklight batteries I've bought the past 30 yrs......but no more!
 
I have and always will enjoy the tactile sensation of a physical book. I have come to truly enjoy reading on my iPad, just the fact that I can carry hundreds of books at any given time is a great bonus.
 
Vote for the iPad.

E-readers aren't so big in Australia. We don't even have the luxury of iBooks for sale yet but I am still going to vote iPad. I am in love with the kindle app. I love it because (as many of you have already mentioned:

-The ability to look up words
-Carry many books at the same time
-Instant delivery
- Night reading

But I actually have 2 other reasons of my own. The first is I am crazy mad about taking care of my books. I never crack spines, have them round food, dog ear pages or toss them in my hand bag. Over the years I have spent a fortune on them. E-books just remove all that stress. I can write notes, highlight, have it at the kitchen table, take them to the park without worrying about how the will come home. ( I swear not OCD, I'm just a little strange).

Secondly, every night the iPad goes on to the charger in the study at bedtime. In the morning I wake up first, usually around 5. My husband wakes up at 7.30. I love the fact that thanks to the sync feature I can pick up were I left off on the iPad with the iPod touch I use as an alarm clock. I never have to get out of the warm bed or disturb him with the bright iPad. I can just have two peaceful hours reading in bed and then pick it later on the iPad if I want. It's brilliant.
 
For me, when reading a book, I'm mainly interested in the content, not the media, which means it makes no difference to me whether is an eBook or a real book.
I do prefer an eBook in PDF format (instead of specifically in iBook format) more than a paper book due to it's portability and ease to annotate, highlight, extract content, etc.

In this case, I voted for iBook, even tho it refers to Apple's own eBook format. The vote option should have been called eBook, as it usually refers to all electronic formats in general.
 
I definitely prefer reading on my iPad. I was a big reader of paper books. And I was one of those "I prefer the feel of paper and turning the pages" people. Then I got my iPad. I picked a good book for my first eBook read. One that I had already read on paper. A few pages in I had completely forgotten I wasn't reading a paper book.

All of this "glare" and "eye strain" stuff you hear from people is nonsense. I've read for hours at a time on my iPad without any eye strain or glare issues.

I love the fact that the iPad screen is backlit. That means I can read ANYWHERE. At any time of day.

However, I'm not a fan of e-ink displays. The display looks like cheap newspaper. And the way the screen turns completely black on most of them to refresh the page is jarring and it cheapens the entire device even more. The lack of backlighting also hurts, since it still requires an external or ambient light.

If not for the iPad, I'd look into the Barnes and Noble "nook color". In fact, I kind of want one anyway!
 
I prefer real book because I love the smell of a new book.. :Da great sensation that imposible you will get from an iPad..
 
aimee25 said:
E-readers aren't so big in Australia. We don't even have the luxury of iBooks for sale yet but I am still going to vote iPad. I am in love with the kindle app. I love it because (as many of you have already mentioned:

-The ability to look up words
-Carry many books at the same time
-Instant delivery
- Night reading

But I actually have 2 other reasons of my own. The first is I am crazy mad about taking care of my books. I never crack spines, have them round food, dog ear pages or toss them in my hand bag. Over the years I have spent a fortune on them. E-books just remove all that stress. I can write notes, highlight, have it at the kitchen table, take them to the park without worrying about how the will come home. ( I swear not OCD, I'm just a little strange).

Secondly, every night the iPad goes on to the charger in the study at bedtime. In the morning I wake up first, usually around 5. My husband wakes up at 7.30. I love the fact that thanks to the sync feature I can pick up were I left off on the iPad with the iPod touch I use as an alarm clock. I never have to get out of the warm bed or disturb him with the bright iPad. I can just have two peaceful hours reading in bed and then pick it later on the iPad if I want. It's brilliant.
Click to expand...


So, my first post in this threa aside from the starting thread and have to tell you I read this particular post when I was out & about earlier tonight on my cell phone...

It struck a chord with me considering I completely I agree with the nighttime reading.

I absolutely love being able to read a book in iBooks and simply either knock out on my own or just turn off the iPad screen and go to sleep. In the past reading a real paperback book meant holding a paperback book awkwardly in my hand while lying down and making sure to not knock out before getting up between 1am-2am to turn off the light in the room...

.....but with iBooks @ night I can read in total darkneed with the Black on White feature and even knock out knowing the iBook will not only turn off for me, but also remember my place on any device.
 
I prefer real books, I like to buy them used or borrow from friends so they usually end up being cheaper than ebooks, and you get a physical product. However recently I've been buying ebooks since I'm outside of the US and have a hard time finding books in English, that aren't ebooks, but I don't see that continuing once I'm back in an English speaking country.
 
I by far prefer ebooks to paper books. I wanted to reread the Harry Potter books recently, and quickly realised that that the only way to do this legally, is to read a paper book. I was so annoyed. I was genuinely tempted to download a pirated copy, not because I wasn't prepared to re-buy them in digital form, but because there was no option to buy them in digital form.
 
I have to admit I had my reservations about reading books on the iPad, but since I have started I've found the portability, ease and convenience of downloading and reading books on the iPad a major plus over regular books.
 
The only thing I purchase in a dead trees version these days is the Sunday newspaper. Something about reading it on the iPad just doesn't seem right. For everything else... books, magazines, technical documents for work... I use iBooks. I really didn't think I would like reading this was before buying the iPad, but was pleasantly surprised. The only time I find myself wishing for a dead trees book is when I'm camping.
 
Kindle & Nook

To be honest, I prefer e-Ink readers like the Kindle & Nook.

On the iPad, GoodReader is my preferred app.
 
ditzy said:
I by far prefer ebooks to paper books. I wanted to reread the Harry Potter books recently, and quickly realised that that the only way to do this legally, is to read a paper book. I was so annoyed. I was genuinely tempted to download a pirated copy, not because I wasn't prepared to re-buy them in digital form, but because there was no option to buy them in digital form.
Click to expand...

+1
 
I personally hate the iBooks app--all bling, not nearly enough content.

Preferences:

Kindle (device)
Kindle app (iPad)
Kindle app (iPhone)
Dead tree book

iBooks isn't even on my list. I buried the app in a folder someplace because I never use it--GoodReader is way more versatile for PDFs.

I've had a Kindle for almost two years, so I'm pretty comfortable reading on either e-ink or the iPad, but the glare and easy ability to do distracting things like email (or playing Angry Birds) makes the iPad a less suitable reader for me. It's stellar for reading late at night though, as I hate book lights.
 
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