book vs download

I have had good luck with electronic based guidebooks for the past couple of years. I generally have the well read hard copy at home and use the Ipod version while traveling. They have some minor limitations, but any compact guidebook (or camera) that is with me is better than the bigger, better one that is on the table back at the hotel/apartment because I did not want to lug it around.

I'm not real sure how a search function works on a real book. Flip pages? Use table of contents? I'd bet you can do the same thing on a reader.

If you're taking a reader anyway, how much does a real book weigh? How much do a bunch of electrons weigh? Do the electrons take up more space and make the reader fatter?

Ditto on the ebook. I had the Kindle 2 for a while. Fine for reading a novel in bed. Not so fine for quickly accessing things and reading maps. Also a fairly limited group of travel books, especially after Rick. And all his aren't available. I think that hauling the guide, tearing out pages and tossing what you don't need either before or after is still the most efficient. Also important for comparing the same section of several different brands of books, which I like to do to interpolate the info. Can't do it on the ebook.

One benefit I have considered that I haven't seen discussed is that using an ebook, GPS or iphone perhaps let you look more local and less touristy. Not for cool, but for being less of a target on the street while flopping a map.

I just started using iBooks with the new iPhone 4.0. I never liked reading on a PDA type device but the new screen makes a big difference.

Have any of you used the travel apps of Rick's walking through Versailles or any of the museums? Are those included when you purchase his ebooks?

I like to read at night before I go to sleep and used to travel with paperbacks before I got my Kindle. Plus I would go through 3 or 4 books in 3 weeks and have to find a bookstore with american books. Now I take my Kindle. I agree that maps are a bit clunky, I still tear those pages out of Rick's book and take a few paper pages.

I've used both on my current trip because we didn't want to buy books for all the different places we've been. I will say I like the book better. The Kindle app does have a search feature, but it is still not as easy to maneuver through as a book. The biggest place the books are better is the maps.

Also, if you use the Kindle app - bookmark pages you want to go back to - b/c having to flip through all the pages again and again to go back to a certain page is a pain.