eBooks vs Traditional Books

With the recent release of the Amazon Kindle, an eBook reader, many people have begun to wonder how long more traditional books will survive.

The case for the eBook – eBooks are light, energy efficient, and convenient. Despite misconceptions that eBooks cause more environmental damage, eBooks are actually very energy efficient and cause much less environmental impact when compared to the lengthy process of creating books – cutting down trees for paper, then shipping the paper, printing, and once again transporting the completed books to bookstores.

Furthermore, eBooks are lighter – tens of books can be held on a reader no thicker than a pencil and definitely far lighter than the average paperback. eBook Readers also come with a host of other features making them very versatile. Among others, they also feature an e-ink display, allowing readers to read outdoors without the glare of backlit screens, and also proving to be easier on the eyes.

eBooks also allow the reader to note down annotations neatly and easily, as compared to traditional books where the annotations were limited by the margins and size of the book. Annotations can be typed in quickly via keyboard to the required area. The eBook can also take down notes and save them to each book.

eBooks are also very convenient. When buying a traditional book, the buyer would have to either the book online or alternatively, head to a bookstore. However, eBooks can be purchased with the click of a button, without needing to leave the comfort of one’s home.

However, despite these convincing figures and reasons to switch to a eBook reader, why has the response to eBooks stayed low?

The first possible factor could be the fact that despite purchasing a book, the company who sold the book (In the case of the Kindle, Amazon) still reserves the right to the book. What does this entail? In other words, the company can delete your book remotely if there is a reason to do so. In such a case, readers of George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm woke up to find their books deleted. Although the full price was refunded, the fact remains that Amazon did so without the permission of the consumers. However, in this case, they did not need to consult the consumer, as stipulated within their Terms of Service. This means that for whatever book owned, the company still reserves the final right to what will happen to your book.

The Second Factor may be that eBooks lack the physical attributes which books have. The ability to bookmark pages, to feel the paper in your hands, and even the smell of books have been cited as reasons to continue reading paperback books.

Furthermore, critics of the eBook may argue that it encourages impulsive purchases. This is especially since books may be purchased immediately at the click of the button with little to no consideration of the worth, usefulness and quality of the book.

I personally feel that the eBook Reader is a very versatile device, especially since it can compress multiple books into a small convenient package. However, I would recommend eBook Readers only to book readers who insist on owning collections of books. This is especially in Singapore where we have a comprehensive library system which has many genres of books, and considering that many new branches of libraries are sprouting around Singapore, this increases the convenience of being able to borrow books without the necessity of owning them. Furthermore, much can be said about travelling to a bookstore and browsing through the titles before deciding to buy one. It is definitely something which the eBook cannot replicate.

However, a category of which the eBook may appeal more to may be students. Students may value eBooks more than traditional textbooks as they are lighter, reducing the heavy bags which students have to shoulder, and host many other features conducive to studying. For example, students need not have to search through an entire book to find certain terms. They could use the search function to pick out the words conveniently and quickly. However, being a student myself, I think the best option would be to sell copyright protected textbooks in a format for Laptops. This is considering that many students already bring laptops to school, it would serve a dual purpose and also reduce the contents of a Student’s bag to just their laptop, while eliminating all other items.