Survey results - Digital vs Printed Comics - pros and cons

[Yoc]

The Comics Reporter took an interesting survey on the above question.
"CR readers were asked to "Name Two Things You Like About Digital Comics, Two Things You Like ABout Print Comics, And Then Break The Tie With The One Thing That In The End Makes You Like One More Than The Other."

Here is a link where they share some of the results.
http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/fff_results_post_324_print_vs_web/

I'm firmly in the digital realm now.  I enjoy a good TPB from time to time but love the space saving that digital scans give us.

-Yoc

[Roygbiv666]

Yoc

Aside from DCM/CB+, do you actually "own" the digital comics, or are you reading them from some hosting platform like Comixology?

What are your thoughts on Comixology?

I haven't jumped to digital as I haven't bothered to get a tablet, but I'll likely do so in future.

The Comics Reporter took an interesting survey on the above question.
"CR readers were asked to "Name Two Things You Like About Digital Comics, Two Things You Like ABout Print Comics, And Then Break The Tie With The One Thing That In The End Makes You Like One More Than The Other."

Here is a link where they share some of the results.
http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/fff_results_post_324_print_vs_web/

I'm firmly in the digital realm now.  I enjoy a good TPB from time to time but love the space saving that digital scans give us.

-Yoc

[chaard]

I didn't read the survey but here's my take on the questions: I won't get rid of my accumulation of paper publications. But I have a couple terabytes of digitized publications that I can take with me when traveling. To read myself to sleep, I don't lean over my 10" mini-laptop or 8" tablet -- I hold paper. Digital and paper formats each have their own pros+cons and each is better in certain places and situations.

Among the visual stuff I accumulate: books and pamphlets; comics and other magazines; road and topo maps and (aero)nautical charts; sheet music; post cards; photos; original painted and printed art; manuscripts; printed ephemera; etc. Some of these work quite well on computer screens, and some don't fit at all. It all depends, hey?

[CharlieRock]

I'm not so hot on the idea of comixology. Digital or paper I want a copy of something to own for my money. Comixology is to comics basically what Blockbuster was to movies. But at least Blockbuster sold a few copies now and then (at outrageous prices, but that is for another thread lol)

[Yoc]

Yeah, I want to OWN my scan.  I'm not a fan of renting from anyone.

[chaard]

I should have mentioned: I don't rent publications. In some places and times, one DOES rent physical printed publications. I recall some coffee shops that rented newspapers from remote places. But to me, renting digital downloads is absurd, especially as the provider can cancel at whim. I haven't tried comixology and I likely won't bother, just as I avoid all other data rental services. I'm cheap. #8-)

[John C]

At one point, I was building a web store designed for comics that tried to balance the publisher's and user's security.  I should go back to that, at some point.  Along with the fifty billion other projects I'll get to, some day...

[edmandu]

I've always been more inclined to just read comics rather that collect them so I'm mostly digital now, and I've already got stacks of big white boxes full that I rarely access these days. Too much stuff!

I use ComiXology to read current publications and Comic Flow to read these wonderful Golden Age treasures on my iPad. I still find time for those blissful lazy days sitting on the couch with a stack of comics, but not as often.

[Yoc]

Sounds like you got it all figured out Edmanu.  Forcing users to use the Cloud to move files around or jump through hoops to avoid it is my big peeve with the iPad.  I'm trying to get my hands on a MS Surface to see what they are like.

[paw broon]

As I said somewhere else on DCM, I now have a Samsung 10.1 tablet (your I-Pads will do you till you get a real tablet) and it's great for reading all my downloads from various sites.  But I do now use Comixology for recent comics as I have no more space in the house.  I understand about not "owning" the comics from them but I have a copy of each purchase on my pc and on my tablet and they are readable off-line, without being signed in to the site.  Also, there are some titles which only seem to be available digitally. 
I prefer paper comics - the feel, smell and the act of simply turning the page as opposed to swiping the screen.  Look at it this way, there is a comic mart in Glasgow next week and there is every chance I will buy some old comics.  But new titles, very few of which I read in any format, I'm happy to pay less for and read digitally.  Only thing is, you can't sell on a digital copy from a Comixology type site.  There is also a French BD site now available, Izneo, which has English language versions of some BD but there is a huge selection of French volumes from lots of the big publishers and, you can rent an issue for 10 days for a couple of Euros, almost like a library loan.
I'm enjoying my tablet and will continue "buying" the odd title that appeals.  Makes sense to me.

[Roygbiv666]

How do you find the screen size - are the pages/dialog all readable as-is, or do you have to "pan and scan"?

Tablets seem to be 10" diagonal, comics are 12"

As I said somewhere else on DCM, I now have a Samsung 10.1 tablet (your I-Pads will do you till you get a real tablet) and it's great for reading all my downloads from various sites. 

[paw broon]

The Comixology titles seem to fit nicely.  Don't know how.  ButI bought the Gulacy Time Bomb collections and I was so taken with the story and art that I never thought to look at whether the screen was full.  I'm currently reading vol 1 of Agence Hardy from Izneo and I prefer to have the screen landscape and scroll down.  These French G.N.s are much bigger than American comics.  That said, the controls on the Izneo app. don't seem as good as on Comixology.  As for British comics, which are bigger in ht. and width, and with landscape titles, they fit the screen nicely and only occasionally do I have to adjust the settings.

[chaard]

How do you find the screen size - are the pages/dialog all readable as-is, or do you have to "pan and scan"?

Tablets seem to be 10" diagonal, comics are 12"

I use an 8-inch Vizio tablet (Android) and it's definitely pan-and-scan. (I must do the same with my 15-inch maxi-laptop, whose screen is just 8-inches high.) But it's not terrible. I just hold the screen closer to my rotting eyes than I would a printed volume. And unlike a physical object, I can magnify infinitely to see the smallest details.

The quandary: Little smartphones are ubiquitous, but IMHO are really only suitable for reading Jack Chick comics. Tablets up to 8-inch diagonal are fairly convenient to carry, but not straightforward to view comics pages. A 12-inch tablet would be great for reading, but bothersome to haul around. I'm waiting for hi-res VR goggles, to just pump the images straight to my eyeballs.

[Yoc]

I've heard goggles are on the way.

[CharlieRock]

I would love a 12" tablet. Do they even make those in that size?