One of the long-term things I want to do is build a home library. Last weekend, I started cataloging my books and putting together plans for how to do that. I’m sure I’ll be posting more about that in the future, but the big question at the start of it was this:
What are the advantages and disadvantages of each book format?
So I spent some time thinking about it, as well as browsing the internet to get other people’s thoughts and perspectives. There are three major formats for books now: print, ebook, and audio. Here, as best as I can tell, are the major pros and cons with each:
Print Books
Pros:
- Ownership. If it’s physically in your possession, then you are the undisputed owner of that book.
- No screens, batteries, or power requirements. Does not require a device to use.
- Easy to share with others (though there is a risk that they won’t return it! See ownership above).
- High visibility. Because of this, print books can be symbols of status or social reputation. They also are much harder to ignore once you put them in a TBR pile.
Cons:
- Space intensive. You have to find a place for them.
- Heavy, especially when boxed in large numbers.
- Prone to damage, such as water damage, parasites, etc.
- Requires shelving to properly store and display.
Ebooks
Pros:
- Portability. Fits onto your everyday carry (EDC) device, such as a phone or tablet, as well as a dedicated ereader.
- Requires very little storage space, both physically (on a device) and digitally (small file sizes).
- Cheap, at least for indie published books.
- Can read more easily at night, depending on the device.
- Privacy. It’s easier to hide an ebook from people than it is to hide a print book, or even an audiobook.
Cons:
- Ownership is ambiguous at best. Do you own your ebook files outright, or do you own a license to use the files? Can Amazon (or whatever site you bought the ebooks from) remove the books from your device at their discretion? It’s been done before!
- Requires a screen or device to use.
- Difficult (though not impossible) to share. There is a kindle lending library, but I’ve never used it, and in the handful of instances where I’ve tried, I eventually gave up trying to figure it out. Copying and sideloading is possible, but tricky. Much easier to pull a print book off the shelf and hand it to somebody.
Audiobooks
Pros:
- Can listen while doing other things, especially driving or mindless chores.
- Can also fit into the little gaps in your schedule, turning time that would otherwise be wasted into reading time.
- Listening is a more passive exercise than reading. This can be a con as well as a pro.
- Fits easily onto a phone or other EDC device, giving it many of the same portability advantages of ebooks.
Cons:
- Takes longer to read. You can speed up the narration, but it’s not as easy or efficient as skimming a book.
- More expensive than the other formats. An exception might be for rare or out-of-print books that aren’t available in digital.
- Larger files, which take up more storage space. You can easily keep a large library of ebooks on one device, but you’d need a server or a dedicated hard drive to do the same with a large library of audiobooks.
- Ownership is ambiguous. See above.
What are your thoughts? Let me know!
