Books: printed or electronic?
Being university students, we all know the benefits of reading books. They have been our source of knowledge and entertainment for centuries and one of my predecessors even did a presentation about them, so I do not think I have to introduce their qualities any longer. Today, however, I would like to present a different debacle. Considering the new age of digitalization we live in right now, why do we still stick to paperback books instead of any other form of written word?
A printed book is a centuries old invention, going back as far as 2000 years and our civilization got very used to the idea behind it. The medium used to transform a spoken word to a written word changed from stone to papyrus to paper and many many more. Lately however, I suspect books face the biggest transformation of all time. In a nutshell, we changed the form of book from a physical object to a collection of data, which we can read on whatever device we own.
There is many pluses to owning an ebook device like Kindle. One of the more obvious ones is definitely its efficiency. We can store hundreds of books on one device, which is both practical in terms of space saving, but also can provide a variety of positions in the most unusual places. Second very important advantage is the conservation of trees used for producing paper. Living in age of environmental changes and growing awareness, I can see how this argument can be incredibly convincing. The last argument in favor of ebooks, that I will put forward here is the fact, that after the initial cost of an ebook device like Kindle, ebook files are several times cheaper than their paperback equivalents. After three hard examples like that it is obvious we all should already skip paper and go electronic, right?
Well, not really. Studies show, that in 2019 paper books were still almost 40% more popular than ebooks. Considering how long ebooks have been on the market, the difference is astounding. The easiest answer is probably the sentiment connected to owning a paper edition. The cover and feel of pages makes it easier to distinguish one book from another, studies show. The smell can evoke memories. We as a civilization are still in lover in paper book, because of its physical qualities. And it does not seem to be willing to go away quickly.
Sources:
https://www.tonerbuzz.com/blog/paper-books-vs-ebooks-statistics/
https://www.businessinsider.com/ebooks-vs-books?IR=T
https://www.writoscope.com/reading/ebooks-vs-printed-books-reasons-better/
Questions:
- Do you think we will gradually get rid of paperback publications?
- Are you sentimental when it comes to books? Or maybe you like the collecting aspect of paper editions?
- Are you an ebook fan, paper edition fan, or maybe both?