Chapter 4: Paper or Plastic?

For my classes, I prefer using real paper textbooks. These are the advantages I see in using them:
1. If they sit on your shelf or on your floor, they are a constant reminder that you need to study.
2. They contain quantified information. When I read a textbook, I see that it is so many inches thick, so many pages long. That makes me feel like I have a goal with an end destination; I can one day say "Ha! I have conquered you, textbook! I learned everything you threw at me!" I have looked at our chemistry textbook online, and I feel overwhelmed in doing so, because I feel like I am looking out at a vast ocean of information. The end is not in sight!
3. Computers are fickle things. They get grumpy if you glance at them wrong and catch colds and viruses very easily. When this happens, you call up your computer repair man and wait for a few days before you have internet use again. With a paper textbook, there are no such risks and delays.

The only reason I would prefer to use an online textbook would be if it has flash animation educational resources. These are helpful and available only in this medium.

I have never used an e-book, and the thought does not appeal to me. I like paperbound books for my leisure reading. Why? Several reasons come to mind:

1. If I have a paperbound book, it is mine! I can put it on my shelf to remind me I have read it. I can write notes in it if I want to, lend it to a friend, hold it, heft it, love it! I have no sense of ownership over online books. They are public property. Anyone can read them. I like paper books just like people like to own their own land. There is something gratifying about ownership and responsibility for objects.
2. I am a prime example of "online ADD." I get distracted from my goals very easily when I am online and end up in the far reaches of cyberspace reading about penguins, because I clicked on some add that looked interesting. Gmail and Facebook especially would distract me from reading an ebook, whereas a paper copy has no distractions.
3. I have heard that reading on screens is unhealthy for one's eyes. I enjoy reading paper more than looking at a bright screen.

For these reasons, I am a paper book and textbook fan.