With Amazon recently announcing that it was selling more ebooks than hardcover books and my own ebook temporarily held hostage by Penguin, I got to thinking about some of the pros to hardback books. Sure, plenty of people have come up with lists of reasons why ebooks are better than paper books. That's easy. But it's more of a challenge--and less cool--to come up with a bunch reasons why hardcovers are better.
Anyway, here's my list. Some are more tongue-and-cheek than others, but feel free to add your own reasons in the comments section. Some of these apply to e-readers rather than ebooks, but you can't have one without the other, right?
1. Spilling a drink on a hardcover doesn't cause it to die
2. You can't press a leaf in an e-book, even a virtual one
3. You can't have an author sign an e-book (yet)
4. Ebooks don't float in a pool
5. You can't use an e-book as a doorstop or to prop open a window
6. A hardcover doesn't crack when you drop it
7. An ebook has no resale value on Amazon
8. You don't have to recharge a hardcover
9. In a pinch, you can burn a hardcover to keep warm
10. You don't have to feel ripped off after paying $12.99 for something that's just bits and bytes