I'm a big pirate of books.<p>I mostly do it for a few reasons:<p>1. Price: I typically read a lot of business reference books that are primarily sold to professionals and as a result are pricy. When I was a college student, I usually just checked these books out from the library, but now that I have moved cities and am away from such a well stocked library I find downloading to be my best bet.<p>2. Convenience: I really like to have ebook copies of all of my books. I often like to work outside of my home and find it extremely convenient to have all of my books in my laptop. They are also amazing for quick reference. Having a searchable copy of a book is very useful for referencing key items.<p>3. Preference for E-books: Lately, I have noticed that I am quickly coming to prefer ebooks. Most of my work involves being at a computer, performing research and being able to quickly switch to an ebook whenever I am there fits in with my work flow.<p>I still buy books, on Sunday I picked up three at a used bookstore. But for new books I use publishing contacts for review copies or wait or them to become available online.