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I've tried reading ebooks... they just aren't an acceptable substitute, in my opinion.

I, too, tried reading e-books on my pda, back in the day when I needed a pda. It just didn't work for me. They are useful when one is riding on some form or transportation or when one want to read at night w/out disturbing anyone but I always found them awkward.

I absolutely cannot, and I say this as someone who always has a non-fiction audiobook, and an essays or short stories style ebook at the ready (damn you iPhone 1.1.1). I do however make frequent use of my local library and only buy used collectible hardcovers.

I've tried the ebook--our library offers them for loan, but a real book is infinitely better. I do enjoy audio books on my mp3 player though, during morning walks and while doing housework.

Just not possible...for me at least.

Not gonna happen.
I could see how they would be useful for doing research though (searching back through what you read). But that's it.

I think it's probably true for all diehard bookworms like myself that the book itself is part of the pleasure, and I wouldn't want to lose that tactile experience. Curling up in bed on a rainy night with the book-on-PDA just won't cut it.

Just wondering--Is it really greener to use E-books considering the energy used to read the book? How little would you have to read for it to be a better solution. I understand books taking up space, using trees, etc. But a printed book has a finite environmental cost (simply the initial production), is portable, and can be passed on to friends (or libraries or prisons) when you are through. Though admittedly, the publishing industry could pursue more sustainable choices along the route of production; it's a brilliant solution for the tons of paper wasted through the editing process (why tablets have taken on in tv production etc.)

but even though I tire decorating around my library demands, it's gotta be print books for me, too.

Good question MelissaC5. I, too, find something so satisfying about turning pages and a shelf replete with books is such a pleasant sight. Of course I can't remember the last time I purchased a new book, I pretty much stick to used book stores. (I do love a pretty first edition for just a couple of bucks, thanks Half Priced Books!)

Well, maybe I'm just not a diehard bookworm (even though I've never been more than two feet away from a book I'm reading for the last, oh, thirty years or so), but I wholly embrace ebooks. I've read dozens of novels on a 2.5x2.5" screen, and it works for me.

I love reading, and paper gets in my way. It's heavy, and it's not waterproof, and it takes up stupendous amounts of space. I hate that publishers think a crappy glue binding that disintegrates after a few readings is worth the $25 hardcover price point. I hate that I can't just go ahead and buy the trade paperback version on day 1. I love lending books, but hate not getting them back.

However, I'm not going to buy into an ebook system that costs me as much for an ebook as it does for a hardcover. That's simply ridiculous.. I am willing to purchase a reasonably-sized, backlit, rugged reader. I've certainly spent enough money on bookshelves over the years...

The device I want to buy doesn't exist yet. But it will, and I think it's about time.

The printed word is so engrained in every facet of human history that it will never disappear. Ebooks were the rage a decade or so ago, but that business model never took off. I do download books on my cell phone because it's easier than carrying books around when commuting or traveling, but I will never be able to fully part with the physical book.

I could see myself going ebook with some books, but not all. I'm in my final semester of night school and I would have given anything to have had all of my textbooks in ebook form rather than lug around a heavy briefcase for the last four years.

I could also see going ebook with books that I'm only curious about reading, but don't necessarily need to own. I use Audible.com for these types of books right now and primarily only listen to them while at work in lieu of music from my MP3 player. So switching to ebooks for these types of reads would be ideal - no shelf space taken up, no worrying about getting to Goodwill to donate them, no due dates from the library.

Absolutely not! A book is a work of art: cloth-covered hardcovers, foiled stamp spines, textured paper, illustrations. And the best part is smelling the pages of a new book!

I agree with KellyInCali about the curling up with a book of fiction. I cannot curl up with a big tome-like text book. However, the space it requires helps my memory. I have some recall of things on what page and pictures on what portion of a page and which side. I keep my sense of chronology better when I can recall where in the thickness of a book a thing comes. My memory is somewhat spacial. I cannot give that up. With regard to textbooks, the used ones cannot be beat. I always got in early to go through the bunch and find ones where the person with the highlighter before me was brighter than me and saved me a lot of work!

I respect and understand that people with various challenges simply must have recorded books, whether it has to do with vision challenges or attention deficit disorders, but otherwise, I think that if paperless books become the absolute norm, we're all going to have lost something. And that coming from someone who rarely really reads books.

I may read an e-book here and there, but I'll never give up a book in the hand.