> You can read a print book without wasting electricity every time you open it
This is generally true for ebooks as well, as I only have electric heating. Both probably require more electricity for lighting anyway.
> and the toxic materials used to produce a e-reader.
I assume an ebook reader uses more resources to produce than a book, but 1) I already have a reader, and 2) I have for example e-books I inherited from my dad - that's approximately a thousand books. Even just moving them into my apartment would require non-trivial resources.
> Reading print is still a much more enjoyable experience
I don't really agree. Especially not for technical books.
> I can't defend ebooks compared to the reading, sharing, and the later selling at a used book store my cast-off print books.
Agree that the Kindle/Amazon drm/marketplace is pretty bad. Not all books have draconic drm, though - and in such cases it's much easier to share a book with a friend that has moved over seas for example.
> I've even gotten O'Reilly books from a decade ago at used book stores that are great to read and look great on my shelf,
Sure, but in the event this is a problem - it's also a drm problem, not a problem inherent to ebooks.
As for books about "programing language x version y, with best practices as of year z" - I fully expect them to be mostly outdated after 5 to 10 years - maybe replaced by a new version.
> and I love finding some old novel by some forgotten author instead of whatever the latest Amazon bestseller is.
I've never discovered books from the AZ bestseller lists, but I've bought a few classics.
There are always going to be books that are hard to get - like the excellent:
Howard McCord book:
"The Man Who Walked to The Moon" which was self-published if I'm not mistaken. I found it in a thrift store in Berlin. As it happens, it's now available for the Kindle:
This is generally true for ebooks as well, as I only have electric heating. Both probably require more electricity for lighting anyway.
> and the toxic materials used to produce a e-reader.
I assume an ebook reader uses more resources to produce than a book, but 1) I already have a reader, and 2) I have for example e-books I inherited from my dad - that's approximately a thousand books. Even just moving them into my apartment would require non-trivial resources.
> Reading print is still a much more enjoyable experience
I don't really agree. Especially not for technical books.
> I can't defend ebooks compared to the reading, sharing, and the later selling at a used book store my cast-off print books.
Agree that the Kindle/Amazon drm/marketplace is pretty bad. Not all books have draconic drm, though - and in such cases it's much easier to share a book with a friend that has moved over seas for example.
> I've even gotten O'Reilly books from a decade ago at used book stores that are great to read and look great on my shelf,
Sure, but in the event this is a problem - it's also a drm problem, not a problem inherent to ebooks.
As for books about "programing language x version y, with best practices as of year z" - I fully expect them to be mostly outdated after 5 to 10 years - maybe replaced by a new version.
> and I love finding some old novel by some forgotten author instead of whatever the latest Amazon bestseller is.
I've never discovered books from the AZ bestseller lists, but I've bought a few classics.
There are always going to be books that are hard to get - like the excellent:
Howard McCord book: "The Man Who Walked to The Moon" which was self-published if I'm not mistaken. I found it in a thrift store in Berlin. As it happens, it's now available for the Kindle:
https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Walked-Moon-Novella/dp/092970...
> And I don't have to worry about the Orwellian deletion of my books from my e-reader
Again - a market/drm problem (and a real one for sure).
I really do hope we will see more diversity in ebook sales, sharing, re-sale and lending.