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Related Discussions
Ebooks vs. Paperback
Harmmanb-1
Alum Member
I am about to begin purchasing books for my 1L classes. I have noticed that many books are available in E-book format. Which format would be better for law school, paperback or E-book?
Comments
Not a 1L, but honestly, it depends on you. During my undergrad years, I found it extremely hard to concentrate on E-Books. I don't know if it was because of the screen's brightness or the fact that technology tends to be distracting, but I always tried to print out research papers or get physical textbooks. Not only can I concentrate a lot better, but I really like having the actual pages in front of me. Of course, there are plenty of people out there who do well with just E-Books so it is really just preference. The upside is that you're probably going to be saving a lot more money.
I am an e-book person. i Like being able to read things on desktop, laptop, tablet, smartphone.
book (carry around)
hold up. (unless you get a book holder thing, really helpful)
can strain neck staring down.
I don't mind either but if i had to choose, it would be E-book, I have 27" dual monitors that i can rotate for vertical reading as well, maybe that is why.
But seriously in terms of convenience E-book are easily accessible.
If there was not an E-book for undergrad i would rent the class textbook and just take pictures of the entire book and upload them to onedrive. I was like $200 textbook or take pictures for 40 minutes...
This has nothing to do with studying, but I heard those books are more than capable of causing back pain. If you have a serious back problem, that could be something to think about.
I think that it's highly advantageous to opt for e-book versions of the text. This way you can study from your text books or reference them in class if necessary without having to flip through the pages or carry around several heavy books. Also you can use the "find" feature for easy reference in e-books that you obviously cannot do with a physical book. I see almost no rational reason to choose a normal book as opposed to a digital one.
Also i'd recommend that you guys invest in a good tablet and laptop as well as a reading stand!
Which are you most comfortable with?
As much as possible I am going with used paperbacks. For undergrad, I was most recently at a school where many profs either outright banned or looked negatively on the use of laptops in class. When this was the case, using your computer for looking at a ebook was a bad idea. The prof might assume you were checking your email, browsing the internet, or doing any of a bunch of things. Profs opinions of you in law school matter less for grades, but probably plenty for getting good letters of rec and connections.
As far as cost, I think you will find that used paperbacks vary from cheaper to substantially more ecpensive than ebooks. A mix would probably be cheapest.
Fimally, there is the question of how much time you want to spend staring at a screen. Looking at paper is usually less straining on the eyes, but you can't change font size or zoom in or anything. When writing a paper or notes on your laptop, you don't have to look at the screen constantly, but when reading on one, you have to look at the screen.
For me I'll usually pick a paper book for a class and an ebook for reading for fun. I like to be able to read in the dark with my phone held a few inches from my face so I don't need glasses when reading for fun, but when reading for a class I'm going to be sitting up at a desk or table with a light on anyway so the convenience of an ebook is lost.
I also like the idea of having a sort of library of books of my own that I can someday put on book shelves to express what the contents of my education were without speaking. Even aside from that if you want to have a book around in twenty or thirty years, paper back is just better. Existing ebook formats may change and your books may become inaccessible. Further, you may not be able to change said format due to DRM and copyright law.
Unless you have a physical disability of some kind there isn't much reason to worry about the weight of books. Get a nice big backpack and put said books inside. It works fine and makes for slightly better exercise than walking with a lighter load. If you do have a disability which makes it hard to carry much weight, then some sort of a rolling bag is still an option, but ebooks will certainly be more tempting.
Weigh the costs and benefits, but there are certainly advantages to both.
There's something about the ability to highlight and make notes and such in real books that ebooks still lack. But I can see the appeal of ebooks if it becomes a matter of weight and convenience. The only danger of ebooks comes if you, say, drop your tablet and it gets smashed. I like having paper backups of things specifically because of tech fails. Has saved me a few times now, having that physical backup.
Paperback is always good, and if you have or purchase ebooks, you should print them out.
Studies have shown that recollection is greater for print format. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/pen-and-paper-beats-computers-retaining-knowledge
Other studies have shown that understanding concrete details is greater for screen format but understanding abstract concepts is greater with print format. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-lazar/study-finds-difference-in_b_10210036.html
I'm a huge fan of physical books and used books stores and that whole vibe, but you cant Ctrl F a real book. I've tried.
I've been interested in getting one of the legal oriented large screen e-readers like Sony's DPT-RP1or the Onyx Boox Max. Does anyone have experience with these? Might start a seperate thread about this at some point.