Books vs E-Books: Pros and Cons

Computer tablets are becoming cheaper and cheaper these days…

Whether you want a dedicated e-reader like Kindle or a more versatile all-rounder like Fire, it’s a great time to invest.

So with tablets coming down in price so much, it’s no surprise that e-books keep surging in popularity.

You can store thousands on a single SD Card, you can read them in the dark without an external light, and it’s easy to download and buy new titles.

In today’s  article, we’ll look into the pros and cons of the new eBooks. We’ll see how they stack up compared to traditional books.

We’ve already taken several glances at where e-books stand out so we’ll aim for a different approach today. We’ll cover some fresh angles rather than rehashing the same arguments. Also, we’ll present things differently with a general exploration rather than a list of straight-up pros and cons…

Read on and enjoy!

E-Books: Great For Reading on The Go

A significant benefit of e-books is their small form factor combined with the ability to store them without the need for bookshelves.

Whether you’re a traveler or a minimalist, e-books are the ultimate portable way to enjoy reading. There’s no need to fill your suitcase with a dozen heavy hardcovers. Slip your Kindle in your bag and you can have thousands of books on tap.

Traditional Books Are More Tactile

Clearly, traditional books are more tactile in nature. They have a heft in the hand that feels entirely different from holding an e-reader. There’s a certain something that comes with turning pages, smelling the paper, and seeing permanent words emblazoned on pages.

Whether you enjoy physically collecting things or simply prefer a more sensory experience, traditional books still win out in this regard. Books are not just vehicles for accessing information, but they are also decorative objects. Who hasn’t been warmed by a home full of book-lined shelves?

Being around your favorite volumes invites you to just grab them and browse. It’s easy to get lost in a book if they’re all around you.

Learn More Easily With Printed Books

Retaining information can be easier for some with physical books.

A Norwegian study had one group of testers reading a story on an Amazon Kindle while the other group was given a traditional paper-bound book to peruse. After both groups were given time to read the story, they were quizzed…

Those who read the paper book fared better on the quiz.

There’s a sort of feeling that comes with reading books that may actually fire a different set of synapses in our brains. Also, we’re so accustomed to skim-reading digital media that it’s hard to read with the same focus.

Lighting: Another Win For Printed Books

Another possible negative experience from tablets is linked to their strength and power…

Tablets boast strong backlights. This high level of screen luminosity sometimes convinces your eyes that it’s daylight outside. This can keep you awake at night for unnecessary amounts of time.

It’s this artificial light exposure that causes a lot of doctors and sleep scientists to recommend regular books over tablets.

E-Books: Visual Benefits

If you are dyslexic and/or have poor eyesight, e-books can be awesome. This is because with almost all e-reader or tablets you have the ability to change the size of the text making it easier to read.

Also, the brightness levels can be adjusted on almost all tablets and e-readers. This not only alleviates the problem of screens being too bright at nighttime but also allows for easier reading in bright environments.

Navigation and Search Simplified With E-Books

Search is super-simple with e-books.

Text can be scrolled with one finger which can help older readers navigate through the texts with ease.

E-books are eminently shareable. You can email an e-book to yourself or a friend easily while storage is a breeze.

You can perform a text search of every single book in your e-library. Just try doing something like that with traditional books! You’d have to first have every page scanned, interpreted then put into a database. Unless you’re in a university library or a high-end research facility, the chances of that happening are very slim.

Audio Option With E-Books

E-books can easily be synced to audiobooks. This allows you to enjoy your favorite volumes and stories in the car or while you walk back and forth to work.

Listening to books is a different experience to reading them but a valuable one. As a way of making use of time spent commuting, audiobooks are hard to beat.

Cost and Ease of Publication

Another very important factor in the e-book vs traditional paper debate concerns publishing…

It’s rudimentary and sometimes free to publish information in digital formats. This sidesteps the need to find an agent to secure a book deal with a publisher.

If you wanted to self-publish a traditional book, it’s not particularly cheap. This limits the release of information in traditional media to people with the money and resources for such an undertaking.

Verdict

The simple fact is, there’s not really any need to choose between print and digital media these days. Not many people start reading e-books and turn their backs completely on their beloved, dog-eared paperbacks.

It’s better to consider that both forms of content have their advantages and drawbacks so why not enjoy the best of both worlds?