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Comment by politelemon | Hacker News Reader

I would expect publishers to start promoting ebooks more as it moves consumer attention away from physical books, and the publishers should be able to format the pages, margins, lettering however they want. That is, if they have the foresight to do so and their workflows can handle it.

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You'll not prise my paper books from my cold, dead hands with a crowbar. I dislike ebooks intensely and won't use/buy them except for the most ephemeral use-cases (tech books).

I am the same. When it comes to a tech reference book, I want something that I can search, and copy+paste text from. But if I am reading for entertainment, an e-book is the worst experience I can imagine.

I agree. That experience of quickly flipping to a page or jumping from one place to another in the book is sorely missing from e-books. That said, they have their positives too. Like being able to search for definition of a world, quickly looking up notes(not easy to quickly jot though, new kindle may change that) and the ability to carry many many books so that you can change books like channels where ever you are reading.

PS: e-book readers have greatly improved in responsiveness and refresh rate that it is different enough experience if have only seen the early ones

The refresh rate is bad. It's worse. Books are better because they have such a low refresh rate. Like I wouldn't read a book with weird ink, or one written in pencil. Forget it!

The relevant "refresh rate" is how long it takes the content of the next page to show up, as I flip the page. That is not slow.

Well, that depends on the purpose. Quick dictionary search and quick browsing (and libraries at hand, etc.) can be quite advantageous.

I don't dislike ebooks, but otherwise agree with you.

the book, like the bike, is a perfect invention

I hope this is not the case. After working all day on a computer the last thing I want to do is to look at a screen.

I have really sensitive eyes (astigmatism, easily strained, dry, photosensitive) and I can't look at a screen without my glasses for more than a minute without getting a headache (but have otherwise perfect vision). The e-ink screens i own, a last gen Kindle and an Onyx Boox, are really paper-like and do not tire my eyes at all.

I have no idea whether it helps with headaches, but have you considered getting a reflective monitor, e.g. https://www.sunvisiondisplay.com/reflective-lcd-monitor ?

I doubt it, glossy reflective screens really tire my eyes after a prolonged use (like a day of work), unlike matte screens.

Some ideas. Feel free to ignore.

Dry eyes? Maybe Sjogrens.

I spent years barely able to look at a monitor. Turned out my prescription was constantly shifting due to cranial pressure. Medication fixed.

Eventually found out that eye doctors were giving out wrong prescription when using machine. Has to be done by hand. It’s rare, but happens.

It's not a screen that emits light, it's a surface that reflects it. (Technically there are usually small LEDs on the side but they don't hurt your vision, you hardly notice them unless your room light is off).

When my eyes reach their limit with computer and phone screens, I reach for my Kindle Paperwhite. That one screen, with its matte surface and side-lighting, lets my eyes relax.

It won't be long until "Siri, read me a story"

> the publishers should be able to format the pages, margins, lettering however they want.

For e-books, hopefully they shouldn’t. The reader should.

I'd be all in favor of ebooks as a first-class citizen, except we've been down this road before and we all know where it leads: Books with advertisements embedded in them, which would ruin reading for me.

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