I too use my PC and my iPad/iPhone quite a bit for astronomy, mainly for Stellarium use in the field, logging, and compiling my observing data.

But, nothing like a good old paper atlas. I too have and employ Interstellarum, as well as the S&T Pocket Sky Atlas.

Also, with Interstellarum, the color density feature for what may be visible in a specific size scope is great, but, just don't let that fool your into categorizing objects by what can be seen or not. You never know what more challenging things are available to you unless you actually try for them. The more you try to see, the more you begin to see.

Anyway, I'm a mix. I still love and enjoy books, and I like my electronics too.

 

For me its a mix of both. I adore using Stellarium and Skytools, and Virtual Moon Atlas is handy to have around when doing lunar observing, where dark adaptation isn't such a big deal.

Some books (especially those with pretty pictures) still work better in book format. And I'm currently really enjoying going through Annals of the Deep Sky. Because we're such a small hobby, many books aren't even available on Amazon - Willman Bell has a bunch of interesting books. Finally, its much easier to scribble notes and add post its to a physical book then its digital counterpart.

I also have a lot of astronomy books on my Kindle, not sure if that counts, but it DOES make for a pretty light and handy thing to log around. Fortunately many, if not all of the Patrick Moore series are on the Kindle.

 

Most of my non-observing astronomy time is spent on forums like this, as well as in Facebook groups, which are more engineered to allow people to post all their amazing astrophotos. But yes, of course books still have their place.

On my bookshelves I have a backlog of general interest astronomy/science books from the great Patrick Moore, not to mention Timothy Ferris and Bob Berman, that I am slowly making my way through. Although the magazines, Sky and Telescope and Astronomy, certainly had their place back in the day, I find that nowadays the "news" in them is literally at least a month old. I don't find them quite as useful, unless you can get a really good deal on a subscription. I enjoy them mainly for the ads and the announcement of new products more than for their actual content, so I would say I find little value in the magazines nowadays.

And yes, I also have found that programs like Stellarium and websites like Tonight's Sky have largely replaced any need for printed, bound atlases - at least star atlases, anyway. Even so, I much prefer my Cambridge Photographic Moon Atlas to the Virtual Moon Atlas on the web. With the book format, it's just much easier and faster to just flip to the exact page you want (organized by phase of the moon) rather than futz around with the program.

My three volumes of Burnham's are always handy, next to my easy chair for a quick read. And I can't wait to pick up the first three volumes of what is being hailed as the 21st Century's update to Burnham's, the Annals of the Deep Sky, at NEAF in a couple of weeks. My understanding is that these are terrific and are a worthy successor.

 

I still like printed media, it can be browsed and referred to much more easily and never runs out of power...

I have a good number of star atlases from the old faithful Norton's through to Uranometria. Plus I have a number of books publish at the end of the 1800's and the beginning of the 1900's.

 

I use a book atlas outside, it will last 20 years easily and the price was 50$ with paper, a few pencils and a small red light. Considering the fact I can stay 45 minutes looking at 3 degrees of sky, it's doing a fine job.

The paper makes no noise, interference or light also, it's fun to turn the pages and they have a great smell.

For me a book is a good, simple friend outside

 

I've owned some of Sir Patrick Moore's books since I was at school (including the famous Observer's Book of Astronomy). I think I know it by heart lol.


This Moon atlas by Antonin Rukl is still quite useful, I've owned it for twenty years and still refer to it. Although, in the main, I find VMA more useful. I read a lot of ePubs, does that count? lol

 

If you are a visual observer, looking at computer star atlases can hurt your night vision. Reading paper versions with a dim red light is less damaging to your vision. For imagers and video observers, which is my preference, we are less worried about dark adaptation. I still however prefer paper star atlases. My favorites are the Pocket Sky Atlas and the Sky Atlas 2000 Deluxe. The latter is a beautiful book. I like my Burnham's Celestial Handbook but the new series Annals of the Deep Sky is great and I use them a lot.

 

Mak the Night great book cover, I would like to turn the pages and look inside.

Sky Atlas 2000 Deluxe that one looks rare also, they sell it a few hundreds at Amazon.com and close to a grand at Amazon.ca. I guess you are lucky to own a copy Luling_Skies. I have the Wil Tirion Cambridge Double Star Atlas, it's a gem for me.

 

I use both printed and computer media extensively...but I love books. That includes a number of atlases: S&T Pocket Sky Atlas (the large format version is the bomb!), Sky Atlas 2000.0 (2nd edition), Uranometria 2000.0 Deep Sky Atlas, Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas, and Cambridge Star Atlas. I also like the specialist atlases like the Cambridge Atlas of Herschel Objects and also their Double Star Atlas, the S&T Double Stars for Small Telescopes (really more of a planning guide than an atlas), and the 21st Century Atlas of the Moon, and probably a bunch more that don't immediately come to mind.
That said, I do make extensive use of computer programs as well: Starry Night Pro Plus and Pro 6 Astrophoto, Cartes du Ciel, Sky Safari 5 Pro, Satellite Safari, TheSky HD, Jupiter Atlas, Virtual Moon Atlas, MoonMap Pro, MoonGlobe HD, and Mars Globe...all are useful.
But I still love books, and I enjoy sitting with atlases spread in front of me on desk or table to plan my hunts...and also to enjoy their beauty and the way they fire my imagination in a way that software rarely does.

Clear Skies,
Brian

 

Every form of media has its place. I use a laptop to gather video/still images, a small tablet with Stellarium to learn the skies and various astronomy magazines for cloudy night entertainment and education. Like em' all, us them all.