eBooks versus Real Books

I have been thinking about this topic for awhile, especially after a very kind friend sent me a load of ebooks. It was something I was mulling over in my head to post at a time when it all made sense to me.
However due to the events of the weekend with the Amazon/Macmillan disagreement. I thought I would just have a ramble and hope it makes sense.
As you may have heard Amazon removed all the buy buttons from Macmillan books over a pricing issue ie Amazon pricing all Kindle ebooks at $9.99 (this can work out cheaper than buying hardback versions of newly published books) This is also to encourage people to buy the Kindle ereader (a cunning plan). Scott Westerfield, Author of Leviathan, wrote a highly entertaining piece on his blog that will inform you as to the debate far better than I can.
http://scottwesterfeld.com/blog/?p=2138

Yes, I do find it highly amusing & ironic that I am an amazon affiliate (to feel raise funds for the book addiction) and yet we are talking about Amazons cunning marketing strategy. I believe Amazon have now reinstated the buy buttons on Macmillan books but please feel free to make sure this is accurate information. Also I wanted to add a link to the Kindle ereader on amazon just to show the product all the fuss was over but it has disappeared (where has it gone?!!!)

Anyway, having gone off at a tangent again, back to the main line of my ramble:

Which Do You Prefer eBooks of Real Books?

For me is has to be real books. I just love them, even though they take up so much space. I love the look of the covers, the feel of the pages and even the smell of new books. eBooks although space saving and mostly cheaper than real books just don't bring out the same feeling in me as a real book. I find looking at a screen to read does little to activate my imagination (I have a very vivid imagination by  the way, something we will be looking at in greater detail with the reviews I have coming up) yet as soon as I pick up a book I lose myself completely (and isn't that what reading is supposed to be about).

I know some people don't have a lot of choice; like my friend in Morocco who is unable to actually find books pulished in english there so she has to rely on ebooks. Also with a growing number of free ebooks available as well as free ereader downloads, it is a cheaper option than buying books. I know a lot of people are going to jump on their soapboxes about borrowing books from the library (another upcoming ramble) but some people just do not have access to a library or if your local library is anything like mine, they do not cater for your taste in books.

So there you have my ramble and my passion for real books. Please let me know your preferences about ebooks versus real books and any comments you would like to make about the amazon/macmillan disagreement.
After reading the extremely humorous piece by John Scalzi last night I just had to add a link to his blog  about the entire amazon/macmillan debacle (strong language used) http://whatever.scalzi.com/
Also due to the large corner of the market Amazon holds I have added the Book Depository as an option.
More on the Amazon debacle 3/2 http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/02/02/a-call-for-author-support/