Ok, this title had me disagreeing right from the start. But although I love paper books, I also understand and appreciate some of the benefits of digital books. As such, I was curious to hear what the author had to say. And whether he could change my mind.
Nope. Not even close.
Yes, the ability to add highlights to books I read on a Kindle (or in the Kindle app) are nice to have. But due to the closed nature of the Amazon e-book ecosystem, I would never recommend anyone rely solely on Kindle for storing their reading notes.
The other advantages of e-books are of value (they’re inexpensive and highly portable), but their drawbacks are at an equal level. Perhaps even higher. Notes are a pain. Scannability is non-existent. And searchabiity is not much better.
Those are the primary benefits the author is toting about e-books. But give me my paper books, some coloured Muji pens, and Day One to store my notes and I’m a happy man. When I’ve completed a book that challenged and inspired me, I can quickly and easily flip through its pages and find the highlighted, underlined words that caught my attention. And my scribbled notes!
Digital books cannot offer the total experience. And you do not have to lose your notes just because you use a paper book.
