Hard Copies vs. Digital Copies. Which do you choose?
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So, I have been an avid reader of both light novels and manga for quite some time. While I do enjoy having a good hard copy around, I have come to the sudden realization that I will most likely not be able to keep investing in hard copies the way I have. I now have 2 bookshelves and 3 large containers full of light novels and manga. This means that I have officially run out of room to put any new volumes. While I have made the decision to keep collecting my 2 top titles Shield Hero and Death March, and switch everything over to digital. This will save space for me and allow me to better keep track of what I have already purchases.
But what about all of you out there on the JNC site? Since JNC is mainly a digital based platform thankfully I don’t have any of their titles in hardback and all are already in digital forms so this is a good thing for me. But do you prefer digital or a hard copy? Like I said earlier I really do like having a good hard copy, but now I think that digital is definitely the way to go. At least for me anyway
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I have decided recently that all new titles I start to pick up will be in digital format.
Anything that I have in a physical format I will continue to buy physically until it reaches the last volume.
I am in the same position as you, Bookshelves all full, boxes upon boxes of books, and I just can't keep buying more shelves when there is no room to put them.
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Digital.
I don't have room for physical copies anymore.
That and digital is cheaper and much more convenient. I can carry my entire collection with me on my phone / e-reader.
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Novels I'm tending towards digital when it's available, with exceptions. Manga still works best in hard copy, because the Kindle is too small to read it and the tablets are heavier than a paperback.
Price isn't that much of a factor - Toradora! novels, for example, are actually more expensive as Kindle books than as a paperbacks from RightStuf (with the gotanime discount), but I went with Kindle.
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to me, there is something special about paper. I like turning pages, the feel of paper, the weight of a book in the hand. I especially like having signed copies when I can get them. These's something about having the extra connection to the author ...however that also means that I have a hard time parting with books, my house is filled with them. That's why for the past year or two, unless there's something extraordinary about the hard copy (extra special illustrations, signed, souvenir of a trip, a gift, etc.) I go for digital.
I read banned books
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@rahul-balaggan Same here. I ran out of space for shelves long ago, which wasn't helped by my moving into a smaller place several years back, while my love for books has only grown.
In fact, I've given serious thought to re-buying books I already own into digital format, just so I can give away the physical versions and free up space.
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After years of reading only digital (at least, for everything available in digital), I've recently started buying the paperbacks for a select few series which I could see myself rereading. But now that I have the actual physical books on my shelf, I frequently find myself just rereading them on my Kindle anyway, as I simply find it more ergonomic than any physical book, even if text printed on paper looks much more beautiful than anything e-ink can currently do.
I'll probably still continue buying the physical volumes of those few series I find myself really enjoying, though mostly just to adorn my shelves with, and as a backup in case my Kindle fails and I have to wait for a replacement. Fortunately, I have the disposable income to buy both print and digital for all my favourite series.
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@rahul-balaggan Yup. That's the boat I'm in. And it's sinking fast!
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@jon-mitchell I have a very hard time parting with my books. Especially some of the very first one's that I purchased way back in the day. You know, back in the day when all of the manga was being printed left to right instead of the original format of right to left. Wow! Now I'm dating myself. All of these to my knowledge were eventually re-printed in the correct right to left format so who knows. Those old left to right versions might actually be worth something someday.
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I've been buying books for a long, long time, so light novels are just a small part of my collection.
I have 6 tall bookcases of books and boxes of books upstairs in storage. I much prefer the feel of paper, however, I made the switch to Digital a number of years ago, excepting for a few particular series. My eyes are not what they used to be and buying digital allows me to increase the font size to make it easier to read. -
@rahul-balaggan said in Hard Copies vs. Digital Copies. Which do you choose?:
I have decided recently that all new titles I start to pick up will be in digital format.
Anything that I have in a physical format I will continue to buy physically until it reaches the last volume.This is more or less where I'm at too.
E-books are cheaper, they arrive instantly, I don't have to worry about storage solutions, I have a backlit e-reader so I can read them in the dark, etc...
I also recently learned that manufacturing paper consumes an obscene amount of fresh water, so even considering the environmental costs of e-readers in terms of electricity and mining for minerals used in electronics, for me they're still a far more ethical choice than dead-tree.
I like physical books, I enjoy them as artifacts and the idea of owning a physical object (and for some books, such as reference books, I still find them to be more functional than digital), but I am a voracious reader and after having learned that I don't think I could justify going back to physical for everything I read.
I hope that doesn't come off as preachy; it's just the thing that really pushed me over the edge to fully adopting digital.
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I've gone the other way to most people. I started as digital only, now I'm physical only except for the JNC series. Even then I still collect the physicals of the JNC series I like, and I also tried series that I don't have digitally that I didn't know if it would like or not.
For Manga, it's physical only. I can't stand digital manga while viewing on a phone it is just painful, and then that means that I need to access from a computer which is almost as annoying.
Plus there is also the collector in me that finds collecting digital volumes very unsatisfying compared the having the physicals. -
Digital. Don’t want to use space on books or manga.
I have iPad Pro which is great for reading manga.
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Physical if it's really something I enjoyed, digital for those one time read only I would say
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I’m in the digital camp due the convenience of it but I do want to start collecting whenever I move out
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I will always get a hard copy if it's available, I always feel with digital copies 'is it really mine', I like to have something tangible to hold on to.
Edit-
Incidentally this is my physical LN collection as it currently stands.
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This is how my colllection looked like in 2012 (anime/manga/games no LN):
https://imgur.com/a/wDabLNeedless to say it has gotten a bit worse since then and I've mostly stopped buying any new physical.
When I got into LNs in 2017 I made the conscious decision to go digital only.
With that I also have an advice for those who plan to buy physical: plan your collection. At your current buying rate, how big will your collection be in 5, 10, 15 years? How much space will it take up? What will you do if you have to move? If the answers to those questions were scary, you might want to think about some rules for what to buy physical and what not.
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plan your collection
Yes, with proper planning, you can insulate your house with your manga/LN collection.
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@rahul-balaggan I feel your pain. I've got a plethora of bookcases in my house. I'm buying digital now, but still need to figure out where my physical copies of Rokujouma will be stored.
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I prefer digital books so I can read on my phone when I only have one hand free, like when I'm holding onto something on the train, or when eating. I can't figure out how hold a book and turn the page with only one hand.
