# Do you like print books? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 15, 2018, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-print-books/819631 "2018-08-15T02:24:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bionic\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/49beb7/32.png) [@bionic\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bionic_man)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-print-books/819631/1 "2018-08-15T02:24:57Z")
Do you like the smell of paper in the digital age? ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-print-books/819631/2 "2018-08-15T02:26:38Z")
Yes. I prefer print books. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-print-books/819631/3 "2018-08-15T02:33:02Z")
I read screens when I have to - I prefer books. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-print-books/819631/4 "2018-08-15T02:33:37Z")
Everybody likes crisp (in the digital age, that means high dpi), beautifully typeset books, but you don’t have to sniff the paper. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-print-books/819631/5 "2018-08-15T03:19:55Z")
Yes, of course. I love print books! And, for the record, I reject the supposed conflict between print books and e-books/e-readers, as though loving one means you have to disdain the other. I don’t plan on giving up either any time soon. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-print-books/819631/6 "2018-08-15T03:23:54Z")
yes, there is more to reading then just the words. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-print-books/819631/7 "2018-08-15T03:28:48Z")
Yes, a million times yes. I grew up in a library. All my firsts happened in a book, long before RL. I volunteer in a library. I love paper anyway. So paper books for me. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-print-books/819631/8 "2018-08-15T03:32:25Z")
I mentioned to my students that they could save money and weight by getting a pdf of a book for class. One teen said “Y’know why I’ll never do that?”, flopped his textbook open and took a big whiff, “Ahhhh…” ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-print-books/819631/9 "2018-08-15T03:33:32Z")
No. I could not possibly give less of a fuck about the scent of books if my life depended on it. I’m ebooks all the way. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-print-books/819631/10 "2018-08-15T03:49:06Z")
> [@rsat3acr](#): > > yes, there is more to reading then just the words. I don’t think of it that way. To me, books are easier and less obtrusive, subtracting from the experience in a good way, rather than adding to it in a bad way like electronic screens do. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-print-books/819631/11 "2018-08-15T04:14:41Z")
Definitely. There is something about a printed book, and it extends to beyond the smell. It’s the feel of the pages, and of the book itself. I collect rare books–my oldest come from the late-19th and early 20th centuries–and those smell and feel wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-print-books/819631/12 "2018-08-15T04:17:01Z")
I love books. But I can’t say it has anything to do with the smell. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-print-books/819631/13 "2018-08-15T04:21:01Z")
> [@Missy2U](#): > > Yes. I prefer print books. Me too, as in: I don’t read books on my phone, iPad or computer.; I read books. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-print-books/819631/14 "2018-08-15T04:48:22Z")
Expanding on what I said: To me, a real book is capable of at least one major thing that electronic books have never approached: being taken for granted. Working properly after sitting 200 years unused, unrestricted usability, etc. The added features of electronic books - running down, quitting, becoming obsolete, rights interference - are anti-features to me. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-print-books/819631/15 "2018-08-15T05:52:22Z")
Me too. Dead-tree books only. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-print-books/819631/16 "2018-08-15T06:51:03Z")
ebooks are fine for reading on planes and on trips where you don’t want to shlep real books around, but aside from that real books are much better. I’m typing in a room with 5.000 of them. Their lovely spines make me happy. I can take some off the shelf and see the cover art, and see how it has changed from the '50s to today. And no one is going to change their format so I can’t read them any more. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-print-books/819631/17 "2018-08-15T10:16:59Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I mentioned to my students that they could save money and weight by getting a pdf of a book for class. > > One teen said “Y’know why I’ll never do that?”, flopped his textbook open and took a big whiff, “Ahhhh…” I hope you gave that kid an “A” for the day. You know, along with an explanation that it doesn’t need to be one or the other. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-print-books/819631/18 "2018-08-15T10:19:54Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Yes, of course. I love print books! > > And, for the record, I reject the supposed conflict between print books and e-books/e-readers, as though loving one means you have to disdain the other. I don’t plan on giving up either any time soon. ^ This. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-print-books/819631/19 "2018-08-15T10:22:30Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > Expanding on what I said: To me, a real book is capable of at least one major thing that electronic books have never approached: being taken for granted. Working properly after sitting 200 years unused, unrestricted usability, etc. The added features of electronic books - running down, quitting, becoming obsolete, rights interference - are anti-features to me. Plus, you know the publisher of your dead-tree copy of _The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_ is never going to come into your personal space and start writing “African-American Jim” all over the place… ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-print-books/819631/20 "2018-08-15T11:31:35Z")
If I’m going to pay money for a book, I have an irrational bias towards getting a dead tree copy. But I do the majority of my book reading on the subway to and from work and I find reading free classics of literature (from Project Gutenberg) on an e-reader to be far superior to buying the same dead tree books or getting them out of the library. Smell is not much of a consideration for me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-print-books/819631.md?page=2)