Hard-copy or Soft-copy?
By maple_kisses
@maple_kisses (2156)
Philippines
April 12, 2007 9:53pm CST
I'm talking about books here. I have e-books saved in my hard-drive, well, those are the books that I would love to read and yet haven't had the chance to buy. I know these books are protected by a coyright and musn't be reproduced but I just cannot stand reading them from my monitor so I print them and bring them to my house to read. You see, when it comes to reading books, I always find hard-copies more appealing. I mean, you can bring them anywhere and you would have no problem with staring too much on your monitor. I know e-books gives portability and some convenience too, but even so, I still go for hard-copies that can be neatly piled in my bookcase, my priceless collection. How about you? Do you prefer buying those hard-copies and reading them comfortably on your bed? Or would you rather download and copy e-books and read them from your monitor?
2 people like this
7 responses
@liranlgo (5752)
• Israel
13 Apr 07
I am very much similar to you. I love reading, (even tough i do not doing it enough, this days), and i always read them in a hard copy. I have a very hard time reading books from the computer, my eyes hurt, and i lose my concentration easily, and there is no way that i can find my special position in bad with my computer. Lol.
Sometimes there are some articles that i do read online, but other wise my preference is always old fashioned books than online books.
@maple_kisses (2156)
• Philippines
13 Apr 07
Now aren't we a nice bunch of readers here? Score is 7-0 in favor of hard-copy :D I can relate with the position problem when reading, it's very important...
1 person likes this
@charles63 (146)
• United States
18 Apr 07
I have a Sony eBook Reader which gives you the best of both eBooks and hard-copies. The print is very easy to read because it uses e-ink -- similar to an LCD screen but much higher resolution. I can read it for hours without my eyes getting tired. The batteries last for about 7500 page turns between recharging. You can copy Word or Wordpad files to it from your computer. The only drawback is the price: about $350. Hopefully the price will come down pretty soon.
@maple_kisses (2156)
• Philippines
18 Apr 07
wow! you are quite something! that's really expensive, but I don't blame you, I do love books too, I ebt if I have the cash I'll buy one myself, :D
@embattledsparkle (1072)
• United States
13 Apr 07
I'd rather buy my own copy. I hate reading long stories on my computer because I want to get comfortable when I'm reading a good book and sit or lay how I want to. Even though I could print it out, I'd rather buy one unless I was super broke at the time and couldn't afford to buy the book, then I'd print it out online if it were available.
@maple_kisses (2156)
• Philippines
13 Apr 07
It's great that we share the same thoughts about this.... Good luck on your readings!
@MrCoolantSpray (1005)
• United States
13 Apr 07
I agree. Monitors cause eyestrain, more so than the printed page. And you can't curl up on the couch comfortably with a computer in your lap, and if you could, the battery would die in two hours anyway. The printed book will never go out of style.
@im2good4u (566)
• Philippines
13 Apr 07
for having books is a bit troublesome, if you would ask me i prefer to have soft copy. it has so many advantages, quick search, doesn't get damaged, saves space and very easy to organize, just be very sure that you always have a backup copy of them to avoid data loss when your HDD crashes.
@maple_kisses (2156)
• Philippines
18 Apr 07
yeah, I can understand your point, E-books do give a lot of advantages. But I've always been fond of collecting books in hardcopy so it's not a bit troublesome for me :D
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
13 Apr 07
I do prefer reading real hardcopies to softcopies. If it is just a few articles, I would of course read it online. However if it is one book's worth, I may choose to print it out if it is something I want to keep.
As long as you don't distribute it, it should be ok. In fact, most of the ebooks are free - and they encourage you to distribute it. :P
@maple_kisses (2156)
• Philippines
13 Apr 07
Really? They encourage people to distribute copies? I thought that was illegal since the author and the publisher can't get money from it... hmmm, or can they?
Anyway, thanks for sharing your thoughts...
@leonilas (20)
• Philippines
29 Apr 07
i believe that in the future,hard copies will become extinct...that is y i prefer collecting them while they are still in abundance...time will come,i will show them to my grandkids and explain to them how primitive people were in the past...hehehe.actually,in the future,books might become expensive.they may become valuable collectibles making them a nice treasure to leave to the next generation of my family.as studies say,the internet is narrowing the imagination of many people.on the contrary,reading books could sharpen one's mind and its creativity.
