Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s Ipad continue to dominate tech headlines. People want to know whether the Kindle will have to cut its price, whether it’s better to wait for the second generation of iPad, whether the iPad might siphon off too many sales from MacBooks; questions abound about the new high-tech e-readers. Despite the considerable buzz around such devices, good old fashioned textbooks retain many charms that make them superior options to gadgets. Here are 10:

You can barter used textbooks: Once you’ve finished using a textbook for a class, you can put it on a site like MonkeyTrades and get some value out of it. Furthermore, you can find great deals on textbooks that others are no longer using; such a process is infinitely more complicated with e-readers.

You can easily share books: If your friend wants to use your textbook for a night, you can let her borrow it without worrying that you won’t be able to access any of the other features of your device.

Multiple books, multiple people: If you’ve got all of your textbooks on one device, you’re forced to bring them all around together. You also can’t borrow or trade for a book as easily as you could a paperback or hardcover.

No Battery Issues: Apple will be working forever before they’re able to develop a gadget that has the battery life of a book.

Selection: While an impressive number of books are available for the Kindle, Ipad and Nook, that number will always pale in comparison to the number of books available by other means.

Support the Little Guy: Many self-published authors might find it difficult to trade their textbooks online via the apple or amazon stores; for them, having the ability to connect with people who read actual books is crucial. Whether it be posting their books on a trade website or hawking them at fairs, there will always be a place for those who produce books you have to hold with both hands.

Notes in the Margins: You can mark up a physical textbook as much as you need to; you can dog-ear an important page, add post-its to the margins, or add a page of notes to a particular great passage. E-readers simply can’t function in the same way.

Less danger: You don’t have to worry about being mugged for your copy of Kramer’s Introduction to Clinical Psychology. Well, unless you’re in a *really* nerdy neighborhood.

Cheaper: Especially if you’re in the habit of bartering for books, you can get great deals on books without having to shell out for expensive electronics. Hit your local bookstore or the web for one-of-a-kind deals.

No Glitches: While the first-generation of Ipad users have already begun to report glitches, you know exactly what you’re going to get with paper books. Even if you spill barbeque sauce all over the pages, it won’t affect your ability to get through the book, and could very well make the textbook more tangy and delicious.

Texture: Granted, this isn’t for everyone, but I get a certain satisfaction out of the feel of a book in my hands. Sorry Kindle, holding another hunk of metal just doesn’t do it in the same way.
While there are definite advantages to e-readers, not everything is better just because it’s flashier. Before you drop a few hundred on a new device, check out some old books. They’re pretty good too.