Social Question

LazyMe10's avatar

Which format of reading do you like better? (more details below)

Asked by LazyMe10 (515points) August 8th, 2016

Do you like to have:

A. the physical copy of a book
B. eBook
C. pdf form
D. audiobook

An why do you like this format best for enjoying your reading time? :)

Observing members: 0 Composing members: 0

18 Answers

elbanditoroso's avatar

Physical. By a long shot.

eBook if I am on a plane.

Audiobook – puts me to sleep. I think faster than they read. My mind wanders when I listen to Audiobooks.

PDF is a crappy rendition of an ebook.

ucme's avatar

Me likes to look at da pikchers :)

canidmajor's avatar

Ebook, usually, for ease of transport and adjustability of font size, margins, etc. I also still read paper books. I’ll listen to audiobooks on long drives.

Hawaii_Jake's avatar

I prefer my Kindle, because I have a variety of books in a small package, and it has built in reference material. I read faster on my Kindle because of the size of the margins.

Pachy's avatar

I use my Kindle Paperwhite mostly on trips and prefer holding physical books at home, though sometimes I do the opposite depending on my mood, the lighting, and of course which form the book is in.

As for audio books, not my style. As a writer and lover of well written words, I prefer actively reading them to listening passively.

NerdyKeith's avatar

I prefer eBooks. I don’t really like audiobooks, because it’s not actually reading.

I prefer eBooks because I simply don’t have the space in my house for books. Plus its much more convenient to carry around an iPad rather than physical books.

Zaku's avatar

Physical book. I do too much looking at screens already, and it hurts my eyes and dulls my brain to look at more screens. I also enjoy the physicality of the pages, and the ability to not have to handle anything electronic while reading. And the ability to read outdoors in bright sunlight.

Call_Me_Jay's avatar

I like them in the order listed.

A. the physical copy of a book
B. eBook
C. pdf form
D. audiobook

Though for traveling and commuting, I do carry ebooks on a Nook and I read ebooks on my laptop.

I never listen to audio books. It doesn’t work for me. I stop paying attention, most often because I pick up an actual book and start reading.

imrainmaker's avatar

Would prefer physical books over ebooks normally. But nowadays using my Kindle frequently due to ease of searching books I’m looking for / happen to find interesting read while searching something else and ability to download / purchase right away for use. Getting bit lazy these days..)

Strauss's avatar

I prefer physical books, aesthetically, but e-books do have a certain practicality. PDF format is OK, sometimes limited by device. Audiobooks can be good if they’re recorded by the author, otherwise I prefer to hear my own inflection in my head.

Espiritus_Corvus's avatar

I like physical books most of all. I like the smell and feel of them. My second favorite format is pdf. I have tons of books in pdf format that fit in a little one and half pound laptop that can be wifi’d to a 52” flatscreen, and even more in a terabyte external harddrive that weighs only ounces and is smaller than a deck of cards. Enough to fill whole rooms with books. I’m a bit of a glutton when it comes to books.

johnpowell's avatar

I love real books so much.. The yellow pages from age and that fantastic smell. If I want to read a book on ATV development a PDF is fine. If I want some Hemingway I demand a aged paper book and a bottle of rum.

Strauss's avatar

@johnpowell Arrgh! Yo-ho-ho!

Sneki95's avatar

Physical book. I have eyesight problems, staring at the screen strains my eyes. Also, holding the book in your hand is a very specific experience.

But, I am totally for the concept of ebooks and pdfs. It helps greatly with very thick textbooks and books you can’t find in your language or area.

As for audio books, I don’t really like it. I am not used to listening to someone else reading stuff to me. But I did take it when I wanted to read and listen Don Quixote at the same time. That was cool. I think it kind of helps when learning a foreign language.

Seek's avatar

I prefer to read physical books. I listen to audiobooks while doing crafts that require hand-eye coordination but little mental ability (weaving, for instance). I am very picky about audiobooks. I almost always listen to nonfiction, nearly exclusively science-related (notable exceptions include Dune: House Atreides, read by Tim Curry. Found it on cassette at a used book store and I can’t find the rest of the series to save my life. HAALP.). I also like The Great Courses and The Modern Scholar lecture series, which I can check out from the library.

canidmajor's avatar

@Sneki95: I still also read paper books sometimes, but just as an FYI, have you tried the ereaders with e-ink technology? It’s like reading a paper page, not a screen. I get headachy reading a book on a screen, but the e-ink doesn’t affect me negatively.

Earthbound_Misfit's avatar

I read material in all of those formats. It’s all about why I’m reading and availability.

I love physical books, but they’re heavy and I can’t transport them easily. Plus they cost more than an ebook.

Ebooks are great if I’m reading a novel, not so great if it’s a scholarly text. So I tend to buy them and print them off. Saves me a fortune and reduces the time cost because I can get the book now and have no postage costs.

Pdfs are good for journal articles, and reports.

Audiobooks would be my least favourite. As others have said I find it distracting to have someone read to me. Not sure why that is, but it doesn’t work well for me. However, it does mean I can listen to a book while exercising, when I’ve had eye problems and I’ve tried listening to books with my husband. Not terribly successful, but we tried it.

LazyMe10's avatar

I like to listen to audiobooks as well while im doing crats.
Listened to a lot when I had to crochet blankets a few months ago.
Is weaving hard @Seek looks interesting?

Answer this question

Login

or

Join

to answer.
Your answer will be saved while you login or join.

Have a question? Ask Fluther!

What do you know more about?
or
Knowledge Networking @ Fluther