PDF's vs Books

[Tom Wong]

With many books now'a'days there usually comes an option of PDF or Printed Copy (Physical Book) With each comes advantages and disadvantages.

Printed Copy (Physical Book)
Advantages

- Sentimental Value.
- Portability (Easy to carry around and read) *Depending on size
- Decorative purposes (Nice to look at / Decorates your shelf)
- Easy to read (A lot of people find words printed on paper easier to read than on a computerised screen)​

Disadvantages

- If damaged severely or lost you have to pay for a replacement.
- Takes up space.
- Portability (Hard to carry around and read) *Depending on size
- Usually quite expensive compared to PDF's.
​

PDF's
Advantages

- Easily backed up (In case of loss or corruption)
- Compatible with cloud storage (This means it can be accesses anytime, anywhere)
- Takes up no physical space.
- Usually cheaper compared to Printed copies (Books)​

Disadvantages

- For some it's hard to read computerised screens.
- Screens are bad for your eyes.
- Need access to an electronic device with an internet connection *If stored using the cloud. If stored using external storage (USB, Hard Drive) will need a device with a USB port.
- If you wanted to print longer PDF's onto paper it would be very expensive in ink.
​

Discuss below.

Best regards,
Tom

​

 

[Tower of Lunatic Meat]

I had a bunch of PDF books on a laptop that has since crashed and I can't recover them (got a lot of free ones during a holiday promo. Can't get them back without paying at this point).

So, with that, I prefer books.

The only time a book crashes is when there's a house fire.

 

[notsoltd]

I had a bunch of PDF books on a laptop that has since crashed and I can't recover them (got a lot of free ones during a holiday promo. Can't get them back without paying at this point).

So, with that, I prefer books.

The only time a book crashes is when there's a house fire.

I hope I don't come off rude but this is exactly why you should always back up anything you want to keep. And you should back up the back ups of anything you REALLY want to keep.

I like magic books for the look, and because books are awesome anyway. I don't have much room now but when I do, they're going to make for a great display. Nothing beats grabbing a book off the shelf and diving in. It's also a bit easier to flip through the pages and find something specific you're looking for.

That being said, I prefer PDFs WAY more. They make it SO easy to read anywhere but even better than that, you can reference them anytime anywhere. I was recently jamming with a friend and something about Tangled Web came up that we were unsure of. I didn't have the book on me but I was able to reference my digital copy and find the answer within 2 minutes. Books can't touch that.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

It really comes down to preference. I don't like reading PDFs on a screen, personally, and I don't like how easy it is to lose them. Data is corrupted all the time, hard drives fail, etc.

You mentioned price - there isn't much a difference in price, really. I've paid $150 for a PDF that was less than 100 pages, and $80 for printed books that are 300 pages. Once you get to a certain point in searching for material, the prices are all basically the same no matter which medium you're using.

Here's a solid truth about books, though - the best material has already been printed, and it's hiding in those pages. It won't likely be put into PDFs or videos.

I think the tendency to rely on looking stuff up is a weakness. It's a common thing these days not to learn things, but to look it up on Google whenever you need to. I know I'm guilty of that. But you don't really know something if you just rely on looking it up. Pick up a book, study it, think about it, remember it. Even if you can't give specific page references on command, you'll know it better than someone who just assumes they can look it back up.

 

[Tom Wong]

It really comes down to preference. I don't like reading PDFs on a screen, personally, and I don't like how easy it is to lose them. Data is corrupted all the time, hard drives fail, etc.

You mentioned price - there isn't much a difference in price, really. I've paid $150 for a PDF that was less than 100 pages, and $80 for printed books that are 300 pages. Once you get to a certain point in searching for material, the prices are all basically the same no matter which medium you're using.

Here's a solid truth about books, though - the best material has already been printed, and it's hiding in those pages. It won't likely be put into PDFs or videos.

I think the tendency to rely on looking stuff up is a weakness. It's a common thing these days not to learn things, but to look it up on Google whenever you need to. I know I'm guilty of that. But you don't really know something if you just rely on looking it up. Pick up a book, study it, think about it, remember it. Even if you can't give specific page references on command, you'll know it better than someone who just assumes they can look it back up.

When I said price I was reffering to the PDF version of said book. For example a book costs £100 and the digital version of THAT book is £20, the PDF is always going to be cheaper. That leads me onto my next point, a lot of PDF's are exactly the same as the corresponding book, usually word for word (The ones that I buy anyway). Finally as mentioned before that is why you always back up your data, not just with magic with anything important. Although there is one point I must agree with you on and that is that it is much nicer to read from a book rather than a screen.

 

[RealityOne]

I like books. The Aretaology of Vanni Bossi is a beautiful piece of art. Mind, Myth and Magic has a physical heft that matches the intelectual weight of T.A. Waters. The republished Complete Walton are beautiful, especially the cover for Volume 3. Roberto Giobbi's Confidences feels like a secret in your hands. Stars of Magic has an amazing feel of history to it. Karl Fulves books on Slydini are so unique to learn from having the book with the text open beside the books with the pictures. Steinmeyer's Conjuring book feels like an old friend and Technique and Understanding feels like a date with a supermodel. Todd Karr's works (Benson by Starlight, Impromptu and Secret Ways of Al Baker) do feel like you are holding a compendium of someone's life's work in your hands. Greater Magic feels like a bible. OK, I LOVE books.

I do PDFs only when the original book is no longer available.

But you don't really know something if you just rely on looking it up. Pick up a book, study it, think about it, remember it. Even if you can't give specific page references on command, you'll know it better than someone who just assumes they can look it back up.

Wait, page numbers are optional?

 

[Tower of Lunatic Meat]

I hope I don't come off rude but this is exactly why you should always back up anything you want to keep. And you should back up the back ups of anything you REALLY want to keep.

I still have the laptop. And eventually I'll get the files transferred into an external.

As stated earlier, data does get corrupted and lost. And I have gone through MANY thumb drives that have gone belly up with unrecoverable info and music I cannot find anywhere else.

It's a good idea to back everything up. Doesn't mean it's always reliable.

 

[Tom Wong]

I hope I don't come off rude but this is exactly why you should always back up anything you want to keep. And you should back up the back ups of anything you REALLY want to keep.

I like magic books for the look, and because books are awesome anyway. I don't have much room now but when I do, they're going to make for a great display. Nothing beats grabbing a book off the shelf and diving in. It's also a bit easier to flip through the pages and find something specific you're looking for.

That being said, I prefer PDFs WAY more. They make it SO easy to read anywhere but even better than that, you can reference them anytime anywhere. I was recently jamming with a friend and something about Tangled Web came up that we were unsure of. I didn't have the book on me but I was able to reference my digital copy and find the answer within 2 minutes. Books can't touch that.

I have to totaly agree with you here.
The only reason I ever buy a book opposed to a pdf is for looks, and also if I know I'll be reading it over and over again. It's always nice to have both a physical and digital copy though.

Regarding backing up, I think it's essential. Personally I convert all my magic DvD's to digital videos, download all my online magic streaming videos and keep them on an external hard drive alongside my magic Instant downloads and my pdf's. I then back all of this data onto my NAS (Network Attached Storage), from there all the data is backed up to the cloud. This means I have 4 copies of each DvD (Original physical copy on disc, digital copy on hard drive, digital copy on NAS & digital copy on cloud) Same applies for Online streaming videos (Original copy on streaming hosts website, digital copy on hard drive, digital copy on NAS & digital copy on cloud) For instant downloads I obviously have 3 copies, same applies for pdf's (Unless I have a physical copy too). This setup allows me to access my magic pdf's & videos:
When I am away from home and do not have an internet connection (External hard drive)
When I am away from home and do have an internet connection (Cloud)
When I am at home but want to use a device with no USB port (NAS)

 

[EricR5]

Personally I like traditional books for instruction (e-books for fun are fine). I'm not sure why, but I retain better and find it easier to flip back to something I want to read again in a physical book.

 

[FirstFlourish]

I prefer books that I can annotate if I think of something neat (if I write it on a separate notepad I may lose it somewhere). Now I don't always write in books (and I don't recommend it if the book is old/rare/not yours) however I prefer having something in my hands instead of tiring my eyes out looking at a screen.

To each their own though!

 

[Tom Wong]

Was doing some research. Turns out you can convert pdf's so that they are compatible with kindles. This removes the problem of a screen, because a kindles screen is basically like paper.

 

[RickEverhart]

For me I prefer books solely for the purpose of having something "tangible" in my hands where I am flipping pages and holding onto something. I know that sounds way off base ha ha, but just my preference. Plus I like to see all of my books on my shelf. It brings about a sense of pride/ownership over one's craft.

 

[Tom Wong]

For me I prefer books solely for the purpose of having something "tangible" in my hands where I am flipping pages and holding onto something. I know that sounds way off base ha ha, but just my preference. Plus I like to see all of my books on my shelf. It brings about a sense of pride/ownership over one's craft.

Most of us feel like this, its the main thing that I think a book has over a pdf.

 

[Ziad Khayat]

I like books because I like the feel of them, the aesthetic, and it's easy to flip through them. Pdfs because of portability(my tablet is filled with them), searches, and replacibility, they're also easier to learn from, as you can just set it down without having to hold pages open, and I don't have to worry about damage or loss. Ideally, I prefer both, but lean towards books, as there are various scanning tools that can make pdfs. Revolutionary card technique, for example, is a massive book, which I am currently reading through. If I'm going somewhere I'd want to read it, but don't want to take it, I can just photograph a couple pages ahead.

 

[Tom Wong]

Just an update. I recently bought a pdf download by Daniel Madison called "Legacy" (similar to Anthology by Daniel Madison). I also have a Amazon Kindle 7th gen which I planned to put the pdf's on. As you all probably know though pdf's are very problematic for kindles to handle. If not converted the raw pdf is a pain to read on the kindle as the text is too small and relies on you zooming in and panning which makes a stressful reading experience. Simple fix! you're probably thinking, "Just convert the pdf to a more readable format using software such as Calibre" NOPE! Calibre is ok for some conversions but for others it completely messes up text and graphics. My solution: k2pdfopt. This program deals with complex pdf's like cake. I now have very easy to read pdf's on my kindle to read anywhere, anytime.

If you would like to know more about different presets and options I used with k2pdfopt feel free to PM me. Cheers.

Regards,
Tom