Do you think it's something to do with the medium, rather than the content?
I am an avid book-collector and much prefer to pick up a technical manual and find guidance there, but at the same time my job demands fluency with online documentation, plus e.g. Stack Overflow, blog posts, etc.
Personally I like the dead-tree feel and heft of a book, and the fact it doesn't require a screen or battery. I can curl up with it and I don't have a bright square of light blasting into my retinas. I could annotate it (criminal!) if I wanted to, or certainly bookmark it. It has the same features as online material in that regard.
I tried the Amazon Fire(?) reader-thingy for fiction books and couldn't get on with it at all, despite the paper feel/look.
A good e-ink reader ... remains a compromise ... but it is a good compromise in many cases.
The fact that I can carry 100s or 1,000s of references with ease is especially useful.
The display is (mostly) reflective, works under direct sunlight, has exceptional battery life (when used only as an e-book reader, if you're surfing the Web or using apps, with WiFi and frontlighting enabled, it falls precipitously), and is very nearly as crisp as paper (200 DPI vs. 300--600 for most laserprinters).
I am an avid book-collector and much prefer to pick up a technical manual and find guidance there, but at the same time my job demands fluency with online documentation, plus e.g. Stack Overflow, blog posts, etc.
Personally I like the dead-tree feel and heft of a book, and the fact it doesn't require a screen or battery. I can curl up with it and I don't have a bright square of light blasting into my retinas. I could annotate it (criminal!) if I wanted to, or certainly bookmark it. It has the same features as online material in that regard.
I tried the Amazon Fire(?) reader-thingy for fiction books and couldn't get on with it at all, despite the paper feel/look.