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Comment by btilly | Hacker News Reader

The high quality hardcovers address none of the complaints.

They are big, and bulky. They don't fit into a backpack. And you can't simply hold them in one hand and read, anywhere you sit. Like a bench in a garden. You need a space dedicated to reading them.

In terms of utility, hardcovers are strictly worse.

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Lay flat hardcovers are much nicer for taking notes from. You can place on a flat surface and use your hands to do other things. A paperback will typically need a book weight to accomplish the same thing.

Yes, hard covers do have value propositions. They exist for a reason.

But when I pick up a random sci-fi/fantasy book for my own entertainment, I guarantee that taking notes is not a normal use case. Carrying it in my jacket, and reading it wherever I happen to be sitting down, is.

Hardcovers may be made as small as paperbacks, but far more lasting:

https://www.amazon.com/Hobbit-Lord-Rings-Deluxe-Pocket/dp/05...

I own those, I would describe them as semi-hardcover, with fake leather wrapped around some stiff but still pretty flexible material. The text is also so small as to be difficult to read in all but ideal lighting.

Tbh I have a worn UK first edition of one volume (stored for now, I think it was TT). Beautiful fold out map, but the cover was cheap and flimsy. I think my latter US 2nd edition was better manufactured, not sure if that’s a postwar UK problem or not.

I can't hold a paperback in one hand either. So there's no disadvantage to me on that front. And as others have said, hardcover books fit into a backpack just fine. They can also be read on a garden bench just fine.

I'm not saying you have to like hardcovers, but I don't find your reasons persuasive TBH.

What kind of hardback books are you reading that don’t fit in a backpack?

The only hard bound books I’ve ever purchased that wouldn’t fit in a backpack were intentionally oversized “coffee table” books.

If you have a normal size backpack carrying a normal size load like you are going to work or school, it’s easier to slide in a smaller paperback than a bulkier hardcover. The extra volume makes a difference in this case.

When I was in school my backpack had to carry not only hardcover books for all my classes but also the associated notebooks and/or binders that the class all too often required us to keep as part of our grade. It often weighed enough that I needed to effectively do a squat to get in and out of my seat on the school bus.

I can think of one time in my adult life that my backpack has been anywhere close to that full, which was a weekend trip to New York City where I was testing whether I could get away with not needing to navigate the transit system with a large bag (it worked but didn't really feel worth the effort). A hardcover would be no issue to fit in any normal situation.

That said, when I travel I carry an e-reader and usually pick up a car magazine at the airport newsstand. My physical books stay at home.

Agree. In middle/high school I can believe this concern. As an adult, in day-to-day life, I don’t know anyone with a backpack so full they cannot fit a hardback book.

“Can’t fit a hardback book into a backpack” is nonsense. Even in middle school and high school hardback books are often exactly what is filling the backpack so full.

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