Kindle Books Versus Physical Books

I read a lot of books. Usually 40-50 a year, which is close to, and not quite one per week. Mostly I read business books or at least non-fiction books. I rarely read a novel.

One of the questions I often get asked is:

Do you prefer Kindle books or Physical Books?

Usually, people say ‘real books’. And, I know what they mean, an ebook doesn’t seem that real sometimes. I’m still on the fence with this one. I like it both ways.

I love Kindle and ebooks because…

Speed! – When I want a book now I go for Kindle. I can jump online and in Amazon’s classic one-click sales process have my credit card debited and the book turning up on my Kindle app* in a flash.

*By the way, it seems a lot of people think I mean I own a Kindle device. No, no, no. I use and recommend the Kindle for Mac app so I read the books on my laptop. (You can download the Kindle for Mac app here)

Choice – This is the death knell for physical books. I can go on Amazon and get almost any book in the world. No book shop can compete with this. And, Kindle books have no reason to go out of print.

Price – Most of the Kindle books are cheaper than physical books. Particularly when I can I buy them at Amazon prices rather than local Australian book store prices.

Note Taking – I also love Kindle for when I’m doing a Book Rapper issue. Not that I’m doing them so much any more. I like to take notes as I read and when they’re stored in Kindle I can export them. This speeds up my rewriting process by a couple of hours.

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I love real or physical books because…

Portable – there’s something wonderful about curling up with a good book. I can’t say the same about curling up with a laptop. And, I feel better about taking a book to the park and lying on the grass to read it. I don’t tend to do that with my laptop either.

Note-taking – No this is not a mistake. It’s in both lists because there’s two different sides of this equation. I prefer scribbling in a physical book. It’s more freehand and I like to draw little diagrams. You can’t do this as easily on a Kindle app. Although you can’t download all your handwritten notes either.

Thrill – there’s still a little thrill of buying a physical book. I guess I get that for a Kindle purchase but then it’s all over in a minute. Whereas if I buy a real book I have to go to the store and I do get to walk out with it in my hands and then carry it home. There’s some value in it’s physicality.

Which do you prefer: Kindle and ebooks or physical and real books? And, why? Love to hear your thoughts.