Digital Books wear out faster than Physical Books

Re:Digital Books wear out faster than Physical Books by ncallaway on Tuesday November 15, 2022 @08:09PM (#33617570)

Certainly not true of every paperback from then. I wandered downstairs and found several books on my shelves printed in the '70s, '80s, and '90s in totally fine condition. On the oldest books the paper has started to yellow a touch, but are otherwise fine.

But even a book from the 90s is 20-30 years old at this point. I'm not sure if that fits colloquially with a claim that they fall apart in "months to years". I've never had a paperback book I've purchased fall apart within 5 years (hell, I can't think of a time one fell apart within 10 years with the exception of severe water damage).

I just...have never seen a book fall apart in months.

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Re:Digital Books wear out faster than Physical Books by falcolas on Tuesday November 15, 2022 @08:13PM (#33617594)

> I just...have never seen a book fall apart in months.

I have. I had one fall apart on my first read through it. Pages just dropping out of it.

I also recall, as a teenager some years ago, buying a hardcover book from a store in the airport, and realizing that the last 20 pages were the previous 20 pages pasted in again.

Ultimately, the books I cared about re-reading, I've replaced with ebooks. Because aside from the convenience, I don't have to worry about the book's condition, deterioration, mold, et.al.

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Re:Digital Books wear out faster than Physical Books by Jiro on Tuesday November 15, 2022 @10:53PM (#33618626)

My AD&D Unearthed Arcana fell apart in months.

Although that was notoriously bound poorly.

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Re:Digital Books wear out faster than Physical Books by rootusrootus on Tuesday November 15, 2022 @09:10PM (#33617950)

> I just...have never seen a book fall apart in months.

I've had the binding snap on mass market paperbacks when I opened it the first time. Not exactly a shining beacon of quality.

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