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October 14, 2024

E-books are here, but it’s not yet goodbye to physical books

In a previous ASI article, it was reported that the arrival of online publication has fearsomely threatened the existence of print magazines. Since the production of the online versions, audiences have come to expect new content daily or even hourly. Casual readers are less willing to wait for a weekly or monthly print magazine to arrive in the post or on a newsstand. The ready availability of free, or significantly cheaper, digital content may deter them from purchasing print subscriptions or individual issues.

As a printed material, it seems that books are also heading in the same direction. When Amazon launched the Kindle e-reader in 2007, e-books went really full blast in popularity. Since then they have been around for quite some time now. The days when we could only read in paper format have been practically disappearing. Today, many of us spend our days in front of a screen, so reading e-books kind of makes sense, right? There are indeed many benefits to reading e-books, but maybe it’s not time to say goodbye to our good old friend, the physical book, just yet. Books are real, tangible objects while e-books are essentially a digital file.

An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. There is a physical sensation when holding a book in our hands – how it feels, the weight, turning a page, etc. This can never be recreated through an e-reader and who doesn’t love the smell of a new book? You won’t have it with an e-book. However, e-books don’t rely on paper and consequently all the industry of manufacturing paper and printing. It’s safe to say that e-books are more eco-friendly.

But then again if you’ve ever used a tablet, smartphone, or a computer to read a book, you know how it can strain your eyes. E-readers are far superior, but this is not applicable to physical books. Many people like to read in bed. But staring at a screen before calling it a night can interfere with your sleep. Price wise, e-books are, in most cases, cheaper than printed books. You do need a more expensive device to read them, but you probably have it already (e.g. phone). To cut costs, some authors are no longer publishing books in paper format. Some publications are only available on digital format.

Another good side of printed books is you can physically visualize your progress while reading. You will get closer to the end at each turn of the page. You can’t have the same experience with e-books. Books might be superior with regard to visual-spatial memory. We tend to remember certain parts of text and be able to find it physically in the book. This is particularly true for e-books with interactive elements. A study found that these were more distracting for children, compromising the learning process.

If you like to read during your commute to work, or at other places where it wouldn’t be convenient to carry a physical book, a digital alternative is the way to go. This is where the convenience of an e-book comes. But when it comes to being regarded as historical artifacts, these books carry with them some  historical weight that e-books don’t have. You can find them in museums and old libraries where they are neatly kept as treasures.

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