Books or Ebooks

Discussion in 'General Chat' started by Little Potato, Feb 26, 2020.

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Books or Ebooks

  1. Book

    61.0%
  2. Ebooks

    39.0%
  1. Little Potato

    Little Potato Sexiest Potato Alive [SpaceBar's Master]

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    I'm finally starting my Korean language classes next week (yipee) and we're required to get a textbook for learning, but I can't decide whether it'd be much more effective for me to get the paperback version or the pdf version because both have their pros.

    For example, I feel as if I can study more effectively writing on the book and flipping through it but with ebooks, there are some you can download for free .... :D and you save space. Though speaking truthfully, the cost of the book isn't that much. Uni textbooks, on the other hand, I feel no guilt in pirating off the net, because for one, I'm only using it for one course and two, they cost a shit ton of money.

    Which begs me to also ask this question. In university, you see three types of people, one who takes handwritten notes, one who typewrites notes and one who doesn't take notes at all (IZ ME MARIO). I find myself learning much more effectively when I print my notes out and write on them as compared to taking notes on my laptop, but I really hate the idea of printing so much paper just to throw them out once the semester ends. Are there any tips on how to absorb information better on screen?

    Which form of medium do you prefer for learning purposes? Book or ebook?
     
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  2. Delusion

    Delusion Dark lord

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    I have exclusively used ebooks since high school.
    When I used then, I was a happy guy with no glasses. Now, I am a megane guy with -3.25 power glasses.
     
  3. Little Potato

    Little Potato Sexiest Potato Alive [SpaceBar's Master]

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    Lmao I used to have -11 until last year... , but I got lasik last year... and just last week, I learned from Ryan Higa that lasik apparently wears off.. and for him, it lasted 7 years. Am I still spending 14 hours on my laptop everyday? Why yes. XD
     
  4. MadraRua

    MadraRua :: ˓(ᑊᘩᑊ⁎) :: Divorcee

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    Ebooks all the way. Have you thought of getting a galaxy note? Or its equivalent with an spen? The spen is awesome. You can scribble on your text, highlight, or make notes for later reference. Way better than keeping written notes that you never look at again (or well I don't anyway).
    The cons are of course your eyes. But put it on reader mode, and reduce the glare. It should help. Either way, best of luck with your new class (y)
     
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  5. Deleted member 155674

    Deleted member 155674 Guest

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    Although I agree that absorbing information on screen isn't easy but you can take notes even on ebooks (so that is not a minus)
     
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  6. OceanMagix

    OceanMagix Catnapping periodically. Existence is oblivious

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    True, ebooks are compact able .

    For me, I would prefer the texture of flipping/ writing a book. Shrugs

    Well, whatever makes you feel better ^_^
     
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  7. Little Potato

    Little Potato Sexiest Potato Alive [SpaceBar's Master]

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    Oh hey, that completely slipped of my mind! I remember back when apple had just launched its ipencil, everyone in school started bringing it to school. But I'm already in my final semester. I feel like investing in one now is a little too late considering how rarely I would use it after I start graduating, unless I read a lot of books on it (or NU on it),
     
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  8. Vilidious

    Vilidious Well-Known Member

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    I prefer ebooks, since they are as light as the reading device, and thus support lazy resting poses while reading.

    Not that I have to study rigorously or prepare for exams anymore.

    Booyah!
     
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  9. jgfenix

    jgfenix Well-Known Member

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    I have had 3 or four books opened on the table in the past. It´s difficult to do that with ebooks, unless you have a lot of monitors and/or tables.
     
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  10. slightofhand

    slightofhand Well-Known Member

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    Books for learning language because you often have to look at more than one text at the same time like a dictionary + a textbook.
     
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  11. jihadjoe

    jihadjoe Well-Known Member

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    Absolutely love dead-tree books, but when you're on the go a small tablet (iPad Mini) and ebooks can't be beat. Basically carry an entire library with you, plus it's its own night light so you can read in the dark.
     
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  12. Melikachan

    Melikachan Well-Known Member

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    i love reading on books and i think i can learn better with them and for learning a language you need look at several page at the same time so books are better

    but cast of paper is high in my country and so books are expensive even more so are those thick uni books so mostly read from ebooks
     
    Last edited: Feb 26, 2020
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  13. oblueknighto

    oblueknighto Blue Person

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    I use ebooks. They're cheaper (or even free) than physical books. You can buy second-hand textbooks but you'll still have to find a buyer for them afterwards.

    I do hand-write notes though because I find I learn better that way.
    Writing your notes on paper just helps you process what you're actually writing compared to pressing buttons on a keyboard. I think writing on a tablet might be similar but I don't have one of those fancy things.
     
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  14. Feng Tian

    Feng Tian Well-Known Member

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    Any decent university has a fairly extensive library from which you can borrow for months on end, usually an entire semester or beyond. On top of that they also almost always offer online copies of said book for free. Together with free versions of win 10 and ms office (learn tex instead, scrub).
     
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  15. Little Potato

    Little Potato Sexiest Potato Alive [SpaceBar's Master]

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    Unfortunately, not all universities have the same lending policies. Our library isn't even that big so there are only limited copies of textbooks.Tried it in my first year, the most I could borrow the book is for 3 weeks and if someone puts a reserve on it while I have it on borrowed, I can't continuously renew it. I'd rather just pirate it off the net in that case.
     
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  16. Shaiole

    Shaiole Mad scientist

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    Im to lazy to take notes... knowing i wont read them anyways... even if i do... just once or twice.

    So I'll take ebook version anytime. For portability. About 3 hours of my life is spent in traffic... need to that time for either leisure(fiction ebooks) or perhaps learning(tutorial ebooks).

    Also... note that some learning material for languages contains audio. Very helpful and is a must when learning laguanges
     
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  17. Tennou

    Tennou Well-Known Member

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    I prefer books. While there are many e-books out there, using real books help me concentrate better to take in all the information i needed rather than using my phone to read, especially because i prefer a wide paper that i can simply flip through rather than a small screen that i need to zoom and scroll down constantly. Although, my way of study when there is a lecturer is simply sit there and focus on whatever the hell he/she is saying and making sense out of it in my mind, some knowledge will slip out some will stay on, yet when there's a test the fact that i listen eagerly to his/her lecture help boost my confidence and i only need to review materials im not good at (some of my classmates always review everything and doubting everything they learn themselves), that's how i keep my average grade.
    ..Should've study more but the result is there.
    And don't forget to hone that one or two subjects you good at so it stay good or became better, it will help you when you feel lost looking at bad grades you got from the subjects you don't excel at.
     
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  18. Teadragon

    Teadragon Book Wyrm

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    Ability to absorb on a screen really comes down to your ability to stay focused while reading a screen. The fact you are on THIS site, suggests you already have that ability! (y)

    Now for taking notes. This is the killer. If you have the ability to take handwritten notes on a screen (galaxy note, Apple Pencil, etc) then get ebooks. If you can only type your notes, get paper books.

    There were studies done regarding note taking in class. They found that the people who type their notes in class retain far, far less than the people who handwrite their notes. The reason is simple. You can type much faster than you can write. Thus you can type everything the teacher says, without actually processing it. However, when you handwrite your notes, you are forced to condense the data down to something reasonable to write quickly. Thus you think about and process the information as you write it. Which makes you far more likely to retain the information.

    There is a major caveat to what I said though. If you get migraines ignore all of this and just get paper books.
     
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  19. Bright_Lucky_Star

    Bright_Lucky_Star [Previously Known as OrdinaryUser] The Blessed One

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    I like the smell of new book, it make me relaxed.:blobokhand:
     
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  20. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    I prefer ebooks for the praticality. It's just too much of a pain to have piles of different texts for each subject and needing to sort them out by date and stuff.

    If I just download the text in question though, it's all neatly organized in my computer's folder.

    ... Also, I prefer to take notes in a notebook instead of in the text itself, so I don't mind not having it in hands.
     
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