eReader vs Real Books

[Stripes]

Hello everyone. Sorry to spam the book thread or the forum in general today. I am just on a book high right now.

Lately I have been debating on buying an eReader. There are many pros as to why I personally should get one. However, I am still on the fence.

Let's have the common debate - eReader vs Real Book
What are your pro and cons of an eReader!

[Stripes]

For me I will list my Pro and Cons
Pros
1. With someone with Dyslexia, reading can be pain. Small text books are NOT my friend. I like how I can adjust the font and size to make it easy for me to read.

2. Some of my textbooks are in eBook format. This has two befits
a. I don't have to lug around to many books. Also, if I get an sony I can underline and write notes on the eReader.
b. Again, Dyslexia, I can control the font and size!

3. It is light. Easy to carry around. Can Read where ever, when ever. Oh and I am wasting less?

4. I can still borrow books from the library and support the author!

5. Takes up less space in the house

6. The textbooks are cheaper for the eReader.

7. It's nice while I travel and/or commute to school.

Cons

1. I do enjoy the real books.

2. I can't use it at work. I technically not suppose to read at work but they kind of turn a blind eye on slow days and if I do get caught they just goes tsk tsk don't do that again. Meanwhile, if I am caught with an electronic, I am fired on the spot.

3. How many of my texts books will actually be on the eReader?

4. I would alway shave to buy my textbooks "new" and I will not be able to sell them after school.

[magnusgreel]

I start off from a position of extreme suspicion about such things. The whole ambience of reading should not shift to a sort of electronic one. That's the kind of concern I have, whether subtle nuances will be lost, without the individual or society noticing, because they're subtle, but important. It's like how few people care about the parts of sound lost in the switch from vinyl records to CD, then CD to Ipod. The "warmer" parts of the sound were easy to let go, in a culture losing its subtlety.

However, I've actually never seen an e-reader, and an article I listened to (in Analog magazine) said the makers of the Kindle actually have it as their stated mission to get rid of everything standing between the reader and the book... in other words, the electronic nature is made unobtrusive. If so, that's great.

The change in font size might even make it feasable for me, apart from the expense that is. (How about Talking Kindles?!) And I doubt there's much "atmosphere" to be had in reading "real" books which are fairly new and uninteresting-looking. You can still opt for paper books when reading something old, once in a while, or for the hell of it. The saving of space is a HUGE advantage. As someone stuck with too much stuff to move, who needs to move, I can attest to this.

There are strangenesses in the legalities involved-- I remember little about this, but they (Amazon? Or whoever makes Kindles... punlishers?) maintain certain rights over the e-book even though it's supposed to be your property now. Somehow, I think under some circumstances they can take it back or interfere with it electronically, if you don't do something they want, and as you can tell, my memory's SO vague that none of this really makes sense, sorry.

So this just a general cautioning, that an e-book may not totally be your property forever, while a paper book definitely IS.