I’ve just been lucky to take part in a Q&A on Facebook with Neil Gaiman for Amazon Kindle UK. He’s one of my favourite writers. I’ve seen him a couple of times talk at the Edinburgh Book Festival, and will be seeing him talk this weekend too.
Anyway partly because the talk is hosted by Amazon Kindle UK and partly because of my own academic research interests I was curious about his views on ebooks versus print books. Specifically I asked:
Do you read ebooks Neil, and how do you feel about the relative merits of digital books and print books? (I’m a fan of both)
Lots of people were asking questions, and I was lucky that he picked mine as one to answer:
Vivienne Dunstan, I think ebooks are easier to use and transport than any library of books, and have the ability to be obtained immediately, but I think that an individual book is a nicer thing than a single ebook. I like holding books, when I can. So yes, I have ebooks — I had a prototype Kindle before they were ever released — and love people reading in whatever way they wish.
That echoes my views to a large extent. Although I love ebooks, not least because they are easier for me to read because of disability reasons, I still buy and cherish print books. I particularly like signed copies by my favourite authors, and big coffee table highly illustrated books.
So essentially I’m a fan of both formats, and expect to be for a long time. It’s nice to know that Neil is too.
vivdunstan
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