Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Fun with Polls How do you read fanfic?

After reading a couple posts, I'm wondering if I'm in a minority on this board, not being someone who actually prints out fanfic anymore. I did at the very first, before I realised how insane it was in my case. The downside to being something of a speed-reader is that it's faster to read the story online than to mess with margins and reformat to print on paper.

But now I'm curious about the rest of you!

I voted as all on PC. I print out stories if I am going to be traveling by plane, but that is so rare as to be practically nonexistent.

I printed out to start with, but quickly gave it up. It was costing a small fortune in printer cartridges and it used up a ridiculous amount of paper, which I felt somewhat guilty over. Save the planet! <g>

LabRat

I've always read on the computer. It never even occurred to me to save and print until I moved to Georgia and had no internet at home until recently.

JD

I read some on my PC (..my Mac actually..) but I also read some on my handheld device.

I never print anything. I don't even own a printer. Even the ones at work, I rarely ever use - I print the monthly little form to have part of my bus pass refunded by the company and that's at. You'd be amazed at how little paper I use anyway. I'm very "green".

I chose a combination. I read both on my computer and on my PocketPC phone. I use a similar process that SaraK posted in the How-To folder on converting archive stories. I go one step further and convert the stories to Microsoft Reader eBook format and then copy them onto my phone using ActiveSync.

I've never printed out a story that wasn't my own.

The idea of printing stories out has occurred to me, but I decided against it. I know that it would cost a fortune.

But before I went on vacation this year, I loaded down enough stories to last me through it, so I didn't have to have access to the internet to be able to read. Of course, I took my laptop with me for reading...

Lara, thank you for making me feel less weird (well, less weird than usual, maybe). Every time I tell anyone I know that I don't even have a printer, they act amazed. Like they're wondering how I can function without one.

LabRat

When I first discovered the fandom, I didn't have my own computer. I was only able to check it out while at work. At that job I had access to high speed printers so I printed out lots and lots of stories and brought them home to read as I would a paperback.

Once I got my own computer is was no longer necessary to print out the stories. I also no longer have access to those printers and wouldn't think of using up so much of my ink and paper to do so. I read online now.

But I did discover one extra problem with all those printed out stories. They sure did accumulate and take up a lot of space. It was only a couple of years ago that I finally threw out hundreds of printed stories.

I do have some pack rat tendencies.

Tank (who stil has many stories that he didn't have the heart to throw out)

I chose combination.

I dint' print from the very begginign because I started reafinf vignetes or short fanfics. I began printing for 2 reasons:

I'm not much of a computer/internet fan, even if I acknowlegde it makes so much information and books from every part of the world accesible to you, for me it won't ever supply the pleasure of sitting of a confortable couch and read a book on 'real' pages. You know, after a while I get tired of reading on the screen. So if it's a very long fic (i.e 250 kbs) *and* looks interesting or have read lots of good comments of it I print it. :rolleyes:

Some times I've read a fanfic on the computer and I loved it, to the point that I know I'll want to read many times, I print it.

Yeah...it does occupy some space but I love books and I consider them like books, plus I'm used to print some classes to study for my exams so either way I consume lots of printer cartridges.

Carolyn

hehehe! I get that, too. Actually, there are a lot of things that I don't own that make people wonder how I can possibly manage to live without it. Like an iron, a blow-drier and a toaster-oven. Eh. Why buy them if I'm never going to use them?

Yes... /me looks around the room, then leans in close to whisper furtively, 'Mobile phone'. Never had one, don't want one. But don't tell anyone I said so. I wouldn't want to get hauled away in a straitjacket by the You Must Embrace Technology Police.

LabRat

Mobile phone? gee... what's that? Actually, I own one, but I stored it "somewhere" when we moved 3 years ago because we weren't ever using it and I'm fairly certain I'll never find it again.

According to my friends, owning a "gadget" and not even remembering where the heck you keep it is even worse than not having it at all.

Apparently, "normal people" have about as many TV set than people living in their home, if not usually more. I lose there too - we have only one and I don't see why we would ever want to own a second one. On the other hand, I own 5 computers (one of which I loaned to someone, though) and my boyfriend has one too - most "normal people" I know have just the one for the entire family and they barely even use it.

I'm definitely *not* normal... but imho, it's more fun that way!

I chose combination. I read almost everything on my computer. But on a rare occasion, I'll still print something if I plan on being out of town or something. I used to print more of them. I also read a few on my handheld.

And Carolyn, if you like to curl up with a book, and that's why you print out some of the fics, I'd highly encourage a handheld. They are almost as good (sometimes better) than curling up with a book. You can still curl with it, it's portable, and you don't have all those printed fics lying around. And when you consider how much it really costs to print a fic (ink and paper), and if you print a lot, the handheld can really end up 'paying for itself'. You can get a decent one at Office Max for $99 US dollars. I imagine one would be a heck of a lot cheaper in Peru. I think you can get a reader for hardly anything.

I could live without a printer if I wasn't looking for a job. Some people still actually want you to make those resumes to them. (Old fogeys anyway...)

I do have a mobile phone. I got used to having one when I had to have one for my job. But I mostly use mine for an alarm clock. (Works great.)

Well, I don't own a printer, myself, but I know where to access one if I really need it.

And although I do own a mobile phone, I don't use it much as a phone. It's my jack-of-all-trades (alarm clock, calendar (comes in pretty handy), camera (rarely) and "Game Boy" (all the time)).

Well, I never used to print fanfic, other than my own (there's just something satisfying about doing edits in pen and paper). I've spent hundreds of hours reading from my computer.

The last few years, I've started printing out some of my very favorites to re-read. I've got three binders full now. It's nice to be able to pick up a binder and re-read a favorite story.

I never print a story before I read it. I'm picky about formatting, so I'm going to want to be able to go through the file and make sure it's set up nicely without any weird line breaks or anything. Plus, I can read almost as fast as my printer can print, so I tend to find myself reading each sheet as it prints, which rather defeats the point of printing it out for a first reading

PJ

p.s., I've got a new method now, actually -- I've been using Gmail (anybody who wants an invitation, let me know -- pamjernigan -at- gmail.com) and Google is doing all kinds of web-based stuff these days. I've started exploring using their document editor. I can upload a fic from home, and then read it from wherever I can get access to the Internet. It's been handy, the last few days at work Especially as it's a temp job and I don't dare save anything personal to the hard drive. But this way, I can take a fanfic break while I eat lunch.

I chose a combination too.

I mostly read on my PC at home, but I download some stories to my Palm Pilot for reading at work, if I don't have an interesting book to read at the moment.

I only print out stories if I'm beta reading or GE-ing and I know it'll take more time than I am currently able to be on my home computer.

Seems like I belong to the majority. I don't print the fanfics, because I don't think my printer would take it. And to be honest, I skim through most fics to see if something attracts me. I don't have too much time to read. Sometimes I'm searching for key words to find stories that interest me. You can't do that with a printed version. So the PC is very convinient.

Well, back in the olden days of pay-by-the-minutes dial-up and only one family computer, you can be sure I printed darn near everything I could.

Hee... I still have *all* the printed out stories because it somehow feels wrong to throw them out. (And I've also got horrible packrat tendencies. Fifth grade science notes, anyone??)

I chose other because I still print out the occasional fic, and more than occasional when I'm going on a trip.

I'm waiting for the day I can afford an e-reader. *sigh* Sadly, I'm also waiting for the day I can get one of those new-fangled mp3 players so I can listen to audio fic.

Sara

That was it! You know, I've been trying to remember why on earth I got into the habit of printing them out in the first place and, of course, this was why.

My! But I'd forgotten those bad old days here in the UK when it was pay by minute. I had to wait till after 8pm and 'reduced rate' to go online and then only for two hours per day. Mark down every minute used and even then you could only roughly estimate what it was going to cost when the phone bill came in. I remember weeks of anxious waiting for that to arrive on the mat and huge sighs of relief when it wasn't...too...bad.

So, yeah...I'd hit the Archive running and print like crazy till my two hours were up. Then haul the mass of printed stories downstairs and curl up with them well into the small hours of the morning. It was a wonder smoke didn't come out the back of the poor pc.

It was hell. And yet...kind of fun. <g>

Which isn't to say I don't love being online all the time, any time these days!

LabRat