It seems to be the year of the portable e-book reader: Amazon’s Kindle DX has been the fastest and best-selling device for some time, closely followed by the Barnes and Noble Nook. E-books outsold traditional paper books as gifts for more than a year. However, the news has sparked a lot of debate on the question: Will the eReader make traditional books obsolete?
The argument against the portable e-book reader
The eReader is undoubtedly becoming more and more popular, however there are several factors that could slow the pace of its growing popularity. First of all, the price of an e-reader, even the cheapest model, is many, many times higher than the price of a book. In addition to the reader itself, there is still the cost of each new e-book to consider. Unfortunately, the price of a paper book versus an e-book… well, they’re about the same price.
There is also the fact that the traditional book is part of our history and sometimes culture is a difficult thing to change. There are people who love the feel of a book, who love to fold the pages, and who love to take notes. People love to go to libraries and browse the shelves. They love to see books in their physical form, which can never be fully replaced with the e-book.
In fact, the books become an artifact of history in their own right. Some people feel that paper books have a longer lifespan than a device could: electronic devices tend to break down over time, or another device appears to take its place.
The case for the portable eReader
Many people say that you can’t understand the experience of an eBook reader until you have your own. Even some of the hardiest book lovers have turned to digital and see e-books as the format of the future.
In fact, many companies and universities already use digital forms of books to help make them more accessible. Students can simply read documents and chapters from home, instead of having to go out to the library and carry heavy books with them. Most major brands, including the Amazon Kindle DX and the Barnes and Noble Nook, allow annotations, making eBook readers much more valuable than simply displaying words on a screen.
In Middle Earth?
The middle ground states that eBook readers will continue to grow in popularity and eBooks will become more and more accepted. It’s doubtful that the physical book will ever be completely replaced, however the portable eBook reader will make books more accessible, especially with the help of free libraries like Project Gutenberg. The good news is that we don’t have to make a final decision. We can have the best of both worlds… electronic and physical books.
