What is a REAL book?

[natasha_jay@tech.lgbt]

What is a REAL book? 📚

by Tom Gauld

#bookstodon #books #reading

[lobingera@chaos.social]

@Natasha_Jay

sorry, could not resist

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Book

[go_shrumm@scicomm.xyz]

@lobingera @Natasha_Jay

This 👆🏾

[ainmosni@social.ainmosni.eu]

@Natasha_Jay I love audiobooks, but I must admit I don't retain half as much from them as I do from the text version.

[matthewnewell@mastodon.social]

@ainmosni @Natasha_Jay everything has pros and cons. I love old paperbacks but I cannot read one whilst doing the washing-up

[bdf2121cc3334b35b6ecda66e471@mastodon.social]

@Natasha_Jay a real book is a book that can't be confiscated from you when your license expires.

[ainmosni@social.ainmosni.eu]

@MatthewNewell @Natasha_Jay Yeah, I use audiobooks and podcasts for chores and walks, but anything I want to remember, I will read from a book or my eReader.

[matthewnewell@mastodon.social]

@ainmosni @Natasha_Jay

Have you tried both? Either simultaneously or not?

I used to record myself reading study materials and listen back whilst reading. Not sure it was efficient as I have always had pretty good recall anyway - but the process was diverting as it was studying/not studying at one and the same time.

Since dawn of easy availability of commercially available / professionally narrated books I have never really wanted to learn subject deeply enough to try

[mrshark@mathstodon.xyz]

@Natasha_Jay

In Swedish accessibility circles there is the term "svartskrift" (direct translation "black writing") as opposed to audiobooks and braile.

I think this is a term that should get a wider usage in these times of alternate ways of reading.

[hananc@tooot.im]

@lobingera @Natasha_Jay the real book is a real book.

[ainmosni@social.ainmosni.eu]

@MatthewNewell @Natasha_Jay I honestly think it'd confuse me to do at the same time, and repeating it in too short an interval would probably annoy me.

Then again, I tend to read references more so that I know where to look when I need the information, not to fully memorise stuff

[david_chisnall@infosec.exchange]

@Natasha_Jay

Real books are ones with no imaginary component. And who would want to read those?

[lobingera@chaos.social]

@david_chisnall @Natasha_Jay as an engineer i prefer complex books with both components

[mort@procial.tchncs.de]

@ainmosni@social.ainmosni.eu @Natasha_Jay@tech.lgbt
My brain's a sieve either way ...
But it's easiest to flip back to "wait, how was that again?" in printed books.

[sergiodeprado@masto.es]

@lobingera @Natasha_Jay thought the same

[ainmosni@social.ainmosni.eu]

@mort @Natasha_Jay it really depends, for me, having a reference is best in electronic form, so that I can link to it and search it. Dead tree format is second, then audio, and then video.

Of course, if I'm trying to learn a new physical technique, videos are the best.

[eigengott@mstdn.social]

@bdf2121cc3334b35b6ecda66e471
So printed books borrowed from a public library are not real books? 😉

I think it's better to phrase this as "E-books with DRM are not real books, as access can be revoked any time by the licensing company."

This also recognizes that DRM free e-books on offline reading hardware are real books.

@Natasha_Jay

[arnodegroote@mastodon.social]

@Natasha_Jay I still struggle with the given of an audiobook being a "real book". but, hey, that's just me.

I get it's more inclusive and useful for people with certain disabilities. But to me it's just like a type of podcast episode and more "background noise" instead of active reading

[mort@procial.tchncs.de]

@ainmosni@social.ainmosni.eu @Natasha_Jay@tech.lgbt
Digital references are nice if there are links or if you can have multiple tabs. But on eBook readers, setting a bookmark, flip through the pages, and jump back to bookmark is quite annoying.

[ratel@mastodon.social]

@Natasha_Jay Context matters. People call "real" those books they have in mind when they say things like "I love books" or "I'm not much into books". The real / not real distinction is an awkward attempt at making more explicit what people have in mind when talking about "books". I'm a cartoonist. I don't "draw books". The object is a book (be it in paper or pdf) no doubt, BUT we don't draw / read / write objects, we draw / read / write stories, comics, recipes, articles, essays, etc.