[rxm]

There are many aspects of a library of technical books that I miss online: the curation process, the higher bit rate once you are holding the book, and the lack of distractions in the library.

What I fear may go away is the long form books offer. When exploring a new topic, articles are often too dense. In books, authors can establish the background, help create a shared vocabulary, and motivate what is often so condensed in a research article.

[nabla9]

There was just recently discussion about books on HN. It was based on some blog post where the author complained about the book format and how hard it is to remember what you just read.

The discussion revealed that people don't learn in shool how to read and study with books anymore. Of course you don't remember much if you read the book from start to end. E-readers may share the blame. It's very hard and slow to study with e-book. If you spend hours studyin, you really need a book written into a paper.

[asark]

Books are damn good interfaces for reading long-form text. Footnotes, end notes, indices (sure search is handy—indices are better for some things, though, by excluding invalid partial matches and other irrelevancies) glossaries, integrated author bios and expert introductions, and so on. Multi-page marking with near-instant switching. Two pages visible at a time. Cover, title, and author visible when sitting on the table not actively in use, to help passively absorb and retain that info—ever forget who wrote an ebook while reading it? Spatial recall. Margins to mark on or write notes in. They're excellent. E-book readers are a replacement only for disposable cotton-candy fiction—which has its place, and that part's nice.

Maybe one day computers and digital readers will actually be good enough to replace books. They're not even close today. The tech's just great.

[cannonedhamster]

It's funny, as someone who grew up with books and the burgeoning world wide web, I hadn't thought of this. When I'm learning a topic I tend to buy or print books so I can soak it in. When I to learn a quick task I go online. Books tend to be great for the why's of something but not the how's. Online is great for the how's but not the why's. I think a blended approach has ended up being the best way for me to learn. I do have a genuine love of books though.