Kindle vs. Printed Books

I got my Kindle 3 in December 2010 as a graduation present. I was pretty much stoked on life, because I love to read books, particularly fictional novels. (In case you're wondering, let it be formally recorded that my New Year's Resolution is referring to 12 books that are non-fictional and not part of the Bible.)

However, I've come to a crossroad that I hadn't really anticipated before I got my Kindle. I'm starting to read things in which I want to highlight and refer back to certain sections. Now, when I was reading primarily fiction works, this wasn't so much of an issue for me, because I would just re-read the whole book. But I've found that some of my textbooks and assigned readings for classes and some books I use in my 12 in 12 resolution are available on Kindle. When it comes to non-fiction works, I've found that I enjoy highlighting and referring back to previous sections.

I know that Kindle has the capability of underlining certain portions of text, which is effectively highlighting, as well as inserting "bookmarks" which is like dog-earring a page, but I haven't found them to be particularly satisfying, when it comes to reviewing what I've gone over.

So I return to the common debate held by many who are contemplating the transition between printed books to e-books: which is better? I'm not too sure. There are pros and cons to both sides. I'll go through some comparisons that I've come up with.

Area of Comparison	Winner
Cost Assuming a Kindle will last, an $80 Kindle will pay for itself in about 25 books.	Kindle
Weight Personally, you just can’t beat the heft of an actual book.	Book
Easy to get more books? This is one area where the Kindle really shines. You can get more books wherever you have Internet access.	Kindle
Smell I don’t know about you, but there’s something about the smell of the pages of a book that you’re reading…	Book
Physical size/Portability Although I already said that you can’t beat the heft of an actual book, when it comes to portability, the size of a book counts against it. Especially if you’re bringing more than one. Plus, on a Kindle, you don’t have to worry so much about bending the pages during transportation.	Kindle
Sharing with a friend The Kindle book lending feature is pretty lame. Only once for 14 days? Printed book wins by a landslide.	Book
Library Security House burned down and lost all your books? That sucks. Dropped your Kindle off a mountainside as you were reading while on a backpacking trip? Replace the Kindle and Amazon has all of your books saved in its cloud network.	Kindle
Reviewing/Finding specific parts This is the clincher for me. I really like being able to flip through some books, whether it’s re-reading something the author is referring back to or finding something for a paper. Paper is also more useful in a group discussion setting.	Book
Extra-reading Utility Ever use a book to balance a wobbly table or chair? A step? Kindling for a fire? Fuel for a paper airplane war? Enough said.	Book

Ultimately, I'm not entirely convinced that there is ever going to be a clear and decisive winner in this debate. What about you? Do you prefer one over the other? Leave a comment and let me know where you stand in this debate!