Should I Read Physical Books or E-books?

00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)

00:00:02.580 | - All right.

00:00:06.520 | Well, speaking about productivity,

00:00:08.440 | we should probably keep going here.

00:00:09.740 | Let us move on to our next listener call.

00:00:13.000 | - All right, the next question's from Brian from DC actually

00:00:16.580 | and it's kind of fitting 'cause he's got a question,

00:00:18.940 | goes into detail about physical versus eBooks.

00:00:21.360 | I know you brought it up before,

00:00:22.420 | but he talks about some good stuff.

00:00:24.120 | So let's take a listen.

00:00:29.320 | - Hi, Cal, my name is Brian.

00:00:30.800 | I'm a lawyer down in Washington, DC.

00:00:32.200 | So I guess in a way we're neighbors.

00:00:34.680 | This question has nothing to do with my profession,

00:00:36.520 | but I heard you're looking for more questions,

00:00:37.880 | so I thought I'd give this one a shot.

00:00:39.760 | I'd be curious in your thoughts on eBooks

00:00:41.400 | versus physical books.

00:00:43.320 | Instinctually, I always prefer physical books.

00:00:45.640 | I like seeing them on bookshelves.

00:00:47.400 | I like the visual reminder of the books I've read

00:00:49.840 | and the thoughts I've digested.

00:00:51.400 | And perhaps most importantly,

00:00:53.760 | I like the idea that maybe my kids will see them

00:00:56.320 | and be exposed to them,

00:00:57.640 | or perhaps one day decide themselves to read

00:00:59.680 | some of the books that I found influential.

00:01:01.520 | I know I enjoyed doing that when I was a kid.

00:01:04.160 | But I also noticed that ever since I've dusted

00:01:06.160 | my Kindle off the shelf, I read a lot more.

00:01:08.880 | I think I can read at night while I get the baby to bed.

00:01:11.600 | I can take it with me more easily.

00:01:13.640 | I can get library books very easily on that.

00:01:17.240 | And so my volume of reading has really gone up.

00:01:19.860 | I also have noticed that I'm much more into

00:01:22.760 | taking and reviewing notes since I can just export that

00:01:25.160 | when I'm done reading.

00:01:26.720 | Paradoxically though, that means I very rarely,

00:01:28.680 | if ever, go back and reread passages

00:01:31.280 | out of the electronic book,

00:01:34.120 | like I might in a hard copy book.

00:01:36.040 | And so not a productivity question,

00:01:38.080 | but I'd be really curious in your thoughts

00:01:39.720 | on eBooks versus hard copy books.

00:01:41.760 | Thanks so much.

00:01:42.600 | - Well, Brian, I would say use all formats

00:01:46.400 | and don't overthink it.

00:01:48.240 | I use all formats.

00:01:49.200 | They all have their advantages.

00:01:50.580 | If we look at the five books I read this month

00:01:53.320 | that we talked about earlier in the show,

00:01:56.040 | this particular month, two of them are audio books

00:01:58.680 | and three of them were physical books.

00:02:01.560 | I would say in a typical month,

00:02:03.400 | maybe one audio book, one or two Kindle books,

00:02:07.820 | and then two or three physical books.

00:02:09.840 | So I have a mix

00:02:12.240 | and I don't have a huge rhyme or reason for it.

00:02:14.280 | I mean, I do like having a physical library.

00:02:17.160 | When you have a reading habit like mine,

00:02:18.940 | where you don't overthink it,

00:02:20.000 | you just grab things that are interesting,

00:02:21.400 | you just, reading's better than non-reading.

00:02:23.080 | I am often taking these books out of my existing library.

00:02:27.040 | So if we look back at this week's,

00:02:29.440 | this month's books, for example,

00:02:30.880 | two of them, two of the books I read in January,

00:02:34.360 | Giants by John Stoffer and The Jesuit Guide

00:02:37.360 | to Almost Everything by Father Donovan,

00:02:39.320 | those were just in my library.

00:02:41.380 | I just looked through my library,

00:02:42.220 | I wanna read something else.

00:02:43.080 | I just, hey, I should read this.

00:02:44.360 | I pulled it off my shelf as if I was in a real library.

00:02:46.360 | So I'm a big believer in having a robust library,

00:02:49.520 | not just the books you've read,

00:02:50.960 | but books you wanna read,

00:02:51.880 | and I agree with you that it's good

00:02:53.120 | for your kids to see that,

00:02:54.200 | and they can see books around

00:02:55.440 | and see them as a physical artifact.

00:02:57.220 | But I think it's completely fine to use Kindle as well.

00:03:00.040 | If you add real books to Kindle,

00:03:01.560 | you're just gonna read more,

00:03:02.400 | and then throw audio into that as well,

00:03:03.740 | you're gonna read even more.

00:03:05.380 | And so I will go to Kindle if,

00:03:07.600 | A, I wanna start a book right away

00:03:09.040 | and don't wanna wait to have it sent to me,

00:03:12.040 | is one reason I'll use Kindle,

00:03:13.720 | or two, if I'm going on a trip or something

00:03:16.020 | where I don't wanna bring a physical book,

00:03:17.400 | or sometimes it's a book I'm not sure about I wanna own,

00:03:20.600 | maybe I'll get it on Kindle.

00:03:21.660 | So I would say, don't overthink it,

00:03:25.080 | use all the formats,

00:03:27.280 | and how you make the decision,

00:03:29.120 | you can just do it like me,

00:03:30.080 | which is, I don't know, randomly,

00:03:32.520 | and it should pretty much work out.

00:03:34.320 | All right.

00:03:37.560 | By the way, reading with your kid,

00:03:40.400 | putting the baby to bed,

00:03:41.520 | that really resonates with me.

00:03:44.840 | That's when we bought,

00:03:46.040 | my wife and I bought the Kindle Paperwhites.

00:03:49.440 | So we had Kindles that were unlit,

00:03:51.900 | and it was midnight feedings.

00:03:54.780 | We're like, okay, we gotta get a Kindle

00:03:56.060 | that you can read while you're holding a baby,

00:03:58.680 | or while you're trying to rock a baby to sleep.

00:04:00.380 | And so, yeah, that brings back memories.

00:04:01.900 | When I think of my Kindle Mini White,

00:04:03.300 | I think about having a baby and being tired.

00:04:06.900 | (upbeat music)

00:04:09.480 | [MUSIC]

Should I Read Physical Books or E-books?

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