Are eBooks better than print books?

Are eBooks better than print books?

'Kindle is the new Library'

It’s bye-bye to the wooden shelves and mahogany libraries. The feel and grandeur of the vast libraries will soon be a thing of the past as the entire content of the library will be within the bounds of a 12 inch screen of eBook readers and gadgets. With lots of facilities these eBooks are giving a tough competition to the printed books market and are looking towards replacing them. However many still prefer printed books over eBooks. It's worth discussing which ones are better.

Yes eBooks are better –

1. eBooks are more convenient in many respects owing to its digital format.

2. They may cost less than printed ones, and help the environment by saving trees.

3. They are portable and easy to make and consolidate notes from numerous books.

4. It is easier to search words, passages and references.

5. It easier to exchange or get new books after finishing one.

6. There are nowadays facilities of dictionary in the devices which integrate with eBooks and help in finding meaning very quickly and easily.

7. EBook, internet and research-everything in one device helps a lot. This is not there in print books.

8. In rural and inaccessible areas and in dark areas where there is low light, reading eBooks on portable devices is convenient.

9. It’s easier to adjust the font size.

10. You can zoom in on the maps and diagrams.

11. Also there is no limit on number of pages. In print books, increase in pages means increase in weight.

12. In eBooks we can have color images. In print books, printing color images costs more.

13. The read aloud facility helps the reader to understand the exact pronunciation of words in the eBook. In case of print books, we need to take help of someone else.

No they are not –

1. It is not good for eyes to expose them to the screen for a long time.

2. Many like the feel of the books. They are deprived of the pleasure in case of eBooks. Paper books just feel good in hands. However even the best designed eBook seems cold and lifeless.

3. The print books have good packaging with cover arts running at back and front, both sides. The book binding and typeface both give a unique look and touch to the print books. Aesthetics matter and feeling a book is part of aesthetics.

4. When it comes to charting out maps, huge diagrams, etc. print books are better. There we can have folded page which when unfolded can give the entire map right in front of one’s eyes and one can capture the entire map in one swoop of sight. In eBooks there is limit as to how large a map can fit on the screen. Larger maps are divided into pages which kills its feel and purpose sometimes.

5. Sometimes zooming adversely affects the resolution of the image and distorts/blurs it.

6. Initial cost is more as we need to invest in machinery to access eBooks.

7. Though portable, portability is limited by battery backup. In rural areas print books are more suitable.

8. Books printed on recycled paper can help environment.

9. Books were and are considered as one of the best gifts. There is a personal touch to print books and kind of nostalgia attached to it. The feel and look of our handwriting and the notes made in it give it a personal touch which lacks in the eBooks.

10. It’s difficult to share a copy of an eBook due to DRM (Digital Rights Management) or sometimes incompatible eBook formats. For sharing one needs to download a pirated copy which means venturing into an illegal area.

11. eBooks still are costly. Many cannot afford new print books and so buy second-hand print books. This is not possible with eBooks.

Conclusion

"Books are no more threatened by Kindle than stairs by elevators." - Stephen Fry. One technology doesn’t replace another, it complements. The eBooks are still developing and it will take a lot of time till they become popular as the print books. This is because the primary need before resorting to eBooks is penetration of technology and devices which support eBooks. There are pros and cons for both paper books and eBooks. The eBook market is ripe for innovations in how we read, so eBooks will only improve over the coming years. However, the real value of the book is in its content and its words, whether in printed or digital format.
Post your comment

    Discussion

  • RE: Are eBooks better than print books? -Deepa Kaushik (09/23/15)
  • ebooks and printed books are two sides of the same coin. Both of them impart knowledge through their texts. Just themediumof imparting knowledge varies. eBooks do provide certain benefits over the printed books. But that doesn't mean that we condemn the printed books altogether. Printed books have their own set of benefits and value.

    When we talk of ebooks, the first thing that comes to our mind if the space utilization. We can save a lot of space that our library with the printed books occupy. Also, we can have many eBooks uploaded for free which could be used just with the internet connection. This can give access to many books for no price. A small technological device in hand can store our huge collection of books. We can carry our favourite library wherever we want.

    On the other hand, the printed books is accessible by anyone. It doesn't require knowledge of technology or enough money to buy such a device. India is yet a bit backward in terms of technology. We have many who doesn't know to use technology, few others who lack the internet facility and remaining few who lack the economic status to buy and maintain a technological device.

    If the primary matter in favour of printed books comes the accessibility, the next comes the age factor. we cannot hand over the technological devices to the kids especially the tiny tots who hardly understand the value of money. Also, the knowledge that is imbibed through reading alonmg with writing is the best practice. With printed books, many people find it handy to make short notes and highlight thiongs by underlining. Though possible in ebooks, it is more tedious and lack that personal touch when the same practice is tried over eBooks.

    Hence, the printed books would always maintain their charm and value over the eBooks.
  • RE: Are eBooks better than print books? -Miffy (09/22/15)
  • some people may consider e-book will finally replace printed book in future,however, it may not acceptable to those people who really like books. For me, the feeling of buying a book is different to the feeling of buying a e-book and we can actually touch the book surface and also turn pages of the book. It becomes more focused on the content in the printed book but not e-book.
  • RE: Are eBooks better than print books? -Haider Ali (09/21/15)
  • As we know that Every thing is Good and Bad at the same time and also E-books and Print books have its own beneficial and non-beneficial factors. Let's make comparision b/w the both.
    As we may need book(s) any where, anytime For story reading/Syllabus/Any important facts and that time you have no books to fulfil that need because of You can't carry your books anywhere and anytime just because they are not always pocketable and carriable. and if you have no books of your choice then there may be two reasons basically 1- You have no enough money and 2- The book(s) are not available in market at that time when you want to get it however you have money. The printed books may get tore if Used in bad conditions. On the other side, The e-books solve all your probs mentioned earlier. Also E-books have some probs those are- you can't read it without having a good working smartphone that costs too much if you are middle order family's member. and you need Internet connection and Charged battery... Beyond these Too much staying at laptop or smartphone may be harmful to your health specially eyes and concentration level.
  • RE: Are eBooks better than print books? -saikrishna (09/21/15)
  • Both have their own advantages and disadvantages. ebooks are preffered when there is very less time with us and we need to refer many things. When we have sufficient time so we better prefer to printed books only because we will get actual feeling of reading the topic and we get the topic in less time and scope of forgetting the information is also less.
    we can easily get distracted while reading e books rather than printed books whereas the carying weight of pnted books is high.
  • RE: Are eBooks better than print books? -andy (09/21/15)
  • I believe dat ebooks r better thn printed books ... Coz nw a days in our busy schedule no one get much time to read a book nd it is also nt possible for us to carry book evrywr along with us nd as time is changing nd technology is developing we got a vry gud substitute as ebooks which content all the same things which is there in a printed book.
    Nd as nw a days evry1 use to carry cellphone with them in d same time they cn utilise time in btr manner as fr example while travelling if sm1 get free time he or she wud b able to open tr phone nd read frm ebooks ..
  • RE: Are eBooks better than print books? -DM (09/21/15)
  • Both have their own relevance and market. eBooks look promising future but printed books will always have buyers. They can't replace each other.