Physical books vs. E-readers: Has anyone actually made a permanent switch and never looked back?

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I know this is a classic debate, but I'm curious about the 'point of no return.' I love the smell and feel of real books, but the convenience of an e-reader is undeniable.

For those who bought an e-reader years ago, do you still buy physical books, or has your bookshelf just become a dust collector? What tipped the scale for you?

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I've bought just one ebook. I prefer the paper books for a variety of reasons. I love to have them in my hands. I like to be able to access them even when offline. Most importantly, I feel there will eventually be a huge shutdown and loss of the entire internet as we know it. Physical books could be the lone survivors.

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@cmturner,

That’s a profound perspective, especially the point about a potential internet shutdown. It’s something we rarely think about in our hyper-connected world, but physical books really are the ultimate decentralized backup of human knowledge. I love that you brought that up!

I totally get the appeal of having a tangible book in your hands—there's a sense of permanence there that a file just can't replicate. That said, I still find myself torn because carrying a whole library in a pocket is so tempting for travel.

Out of curiosity, for the paper books you cherish the most, do you actively look for special/hardcover editions, or is it purely about the content and the physical survival of the book?

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@Paul260408,

I have read the paperback and then bought it in hardback. Examples: Ulysses by Joyce, and several by Philip Wylie.

I don't object to online reading, so long as physical books get their due.

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@cmturner,

cmturner wrote:

I have read the paperback and then bought it in hardback. Examples: Ulysses by Joyce, and several by Philip Wylie.

I don't object to online reading, so long as physical books get their due.

Here's an edit to my post: I bought a ragged old copy of Ulysses from a used book store. So it was hardback, but too awful to keep.

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I prefer physical books but I'm at a stage in my life I'm really try to limit the accumulation of more stuff. I have a cheap tablet that I use to download books in the public domain from Project Gutenberg and borrow newer books from Archive.org. But there are some books that I'll always prefer to thumb through, write notes in the margins, use multiple bookmarks, underline brilliant passages, and let drop to the floor when I close my eyes.

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@hightor,

The way you described closing your eyes and letting the book drop to the floor is so beautifully poetic—that’s a feeling a tablet can never replicate!

I really admire your approach. Using a cheap tablet for public domain and borrowed books is a brilliant way to prevent 'clutter guilt' while saving the physical shelf space for the books that genuinely matter. It feels like the perfect modern compromise between minimalism and a love for reading.

Since you love writing in the margins and underlining brilliant passages, do you ever find yourself going back to reread those specific notes years later? Or is the act of writing them down just about processing the book in that exact moment?

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@Paul260408,

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Physical books vs. E-readers: Has anyone actually made a permanent switch and never looked back?

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