I have recently found myself in a bit of a disagreement with a friend on twitter about books. She is arguing that nothing beats the experience of a physical book while I am championing the advantages of the electronic format. She writes:

but is it as good as a real book? The smell, the feel, the realness?!

From my perspective this is just a rose tinted view clouded by fond memories from the past. Looked at objectively electronic books are massively superior. They are:

• More accessible to the blind.
• Cause less damage to the environment in production and shipping.
• Allow a user to carry their entire book collection anywhere.
• Buy a book without going to a store and have instant access.
• Search their books for a specific reference.
• Format the book to suit your personal preferences (font size etc).
• Can be shared easily across multiple devices.

The list goes on.

It fascinates me how people cling to the old ways of doing things even when they are so obviously inferior. We are drawn to the familiar and so fail to embrace the new and improved.

Am I missing something? Do physical books have some super power of which I am unaware. In my opinion humanity needs to shake off this romanticism with the past if we are going to continue to evolve and better ourselves.