The dilemma of physical and digital books... but why not choose both?

Greetings to all members of the community, how are you? Talking about books almost always takes me back to my childhood, because I remember that when I was on vacation I always tried to visit a bookstore with my parents, especially if we were at the mall because I knew that there I would find a specific store called Tecni Ciencia Libros that was like paradise for me at that time. I find interesting the debate that this #KISS Blogging Idea 73 wants to bring because it is extremely difficult for me to decide on a book format, even if the one I use the most is digital. Maybe the change in the pace of life now more accelerated and complicated in many ways has made the digital format has become a necessity for contemporary readers who without wanting to lose the habit of reading need to adapt to new realities…

I do not deny that those photos and videos of people reading a physical book in public transport look great, but is it practical? Not so much. Especially considering that if you live in a country like mine there is little you will be able to enjoy reading when you are on a bus that has music blaring and you're most likely squeezed between many people in a space that's too small. The situation does not improve with the digital format because you also have that feeling that the electronic device you are using could be stolen, but perhaps it has more points because it takes up less space and the cell phone is carried everywhere anyway.

I believe I have already mentioned above that one of the first approaches I had with reading was with the book Don Quixote de la Mancha written by the illustrious Miguel de Cervantes and that version had beautiful illustrations that encouraged little Gabriela at that time to want to know what was going on, like any child who is attracted by the drawings, for one reason children's books have them, it is proven that they like it better, and although this book is obviously not for children, it fulfilled the same result. Yes, yes, maybe the digital versions have the same, but seeing an illustration in digital for me will never be the same as seeing it in physical, it has a special magic that generates completely different sensations.

In addition, in those days my parents were also trying to encourage me to read by buying me one of my favorite comics of the time called Condorito, a classic of Latin American culture, I would dare to say, that I loved because of its particular style of humor. You don't know how much I was looking forward to collecting them, I have several thanks to that and to the good will of my parents to buy me the new edition every week no matter that I was driving them to ruin. That feeling of turning pages is incomparable, without realizing it, you find yourself in love with reading because of these little things that seem frivolities, I think that whoever says he has not bought a physical book only because the cover is beautiful is lying with all his being, because in general, human beings are attracted to beautiful things, regardless of what is what you consider beautiful, because beauty is subjective.

Now, I also have to highlight a very important little situation and that is that when I started college I started reading a lot of books, my career is known for demanding a lot of reading, reading until your eyes bleed, something that almost happened in my case. The economic situation forced me to resort to the digital format of many of those books, the same library of our School was in charge of digitizing most of the books it had stored because when it closed its doors during the pandemic, the students' access to this information was highly reduced. I don't know about you, but having to read books of hundreds of pages through a screen to study is not very comfortable, in the long run your eyes suffer, I was kind of traumatized with the digital format because of that... but I am a person who maybe likes masochism, because I keep recurring to it.

Why not have the best of both worlds? The convenience of the digital format with its ease of having everything at hand on one hand and the feeling of a good physical book with the unmistakable smell of its pages on the other, a little of both until you find the perfect balance because there is a time for everything in this life. As I feel I'm cheating a little on the subject, I will say that I slightly prefer the digital format, it is what practice has shown me to find myself most of the time with my head stuck in a screen reading a book until the wee hours of the morning without being able to sleep until I know what happens in the next chapter, but if I see a book that I like with a beautiful cover and I have the possibility to buy it I will not hesitate twice.

Thank you very much for reaching this point, I hope you are well.

The photos are mine taken from my Redmi Note 5 phone.