A Correction, a Retraction and a Clarification

A couple of months ago, I posted an article about Hard copy books vs. Digital books. Now, I would like to make something perfectly clear. I know that my wife reads these blog posts, and I know that she likes most of them. I had an inkling that when I declared that soft copy books were better than hard copy books, I would get some blowback from some hardcore book nerds. I didn’t think that the book nerd in question would be the one I was living with. One of the things that I have always admired about my wife is how much she reads. It’s something that I have tried to correct (and this year, I’m doing a decent job of it), but I have gone about it in a slightly different way. She LOVES physical books, where I’m more partial to digital. After the post went live, she came down to my office and said, “ok…So I read your post today…..I have some notes.” As I’m a loving husband I and I want to make her as happy as I can, I figure it’s my job to make some corrections where I need to.

1) A retraction – So one of the things I said in my previous post was that it previously hadn’t been possible to purchase e-books from the Kindle and that you had to buy on Amazon’s site. This, according to my wife, who has bought WAY more e-books than I have, is not correct. I am more than willing to go with her thoughts on this, so I will retract by saying that “it used not to be possible” and instead say that it used to not be possible….for me….to buy books off the Kindle. Perhaps because I was doing it wrong or a setting was off. In either case, I can do it now, and so can you.

2) A correction – When we were discussing (or arguing….I’m not sure at this point) my thoughts on not purchasing from the Kindle, she correctly pointed out that it wasn’t that but, in fact, Audible where you couldn’t purchase from the app itself and had to go to the main site. This is both true and was really aggravating. Luckily now (and this I have tested), you can purchase a new book directly from the app if you are on the Audible app on your phone. It then allows you to download to your phone, and you’re off to the races. I like listening to books, podcasts and music when I’m on walks, so having the ability to go from one audiobook to the next without going to a website is quite helpful.

3) A clarification – The one thing that rankled my wife more than anything about the post (hilariously) was the fact that I said that digital books were better than Hard copy books. As a long-time book nerd, she talked to me about the feeling of opening a book for the first time and the gratifying feeling of closing a book for the last time when it was finished. I want to be clear; I do get everything that she was talking about. I read BOTH hard and soft copy books, and I continue to do so. I like Digital books over Hard copy books simply that with an e-reader, you can take with you as many books as you want while only having to worry about the bulk and weight of your e-reader. With physical books, you can only have as many as you can carry in your backpack, briefcase or purse. I do like reading physical books, I’m actually in the middle of one as I’m writing this post, but if given a choice, I would go digital simply because they are easier to transport. I said in my original post that I liked digital books because they were easy to walk around with when I was commuting to work, which is true. When I am in cottage country, it’s also true that it makes it so much easier to have multiple different books at one should the need arise.

I have a long history of totally admitting when I’ve made a mistake. I legit have no problem admitting that I’ve made an error, so long as I learn from them. Some I do learn from, like this one, some I’m still working on. Luckily for me, this mistake was quickly corrected. I do like books of all formats, so I would never dismiss one over the other.

Which do you prefer? Physical or Digital Books?

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