Will eBook replace paper book?
Should we declare the traditional book as an endangered specie? Current trends show that e-book popularity is growing and it may become the format of choice for most people in the near future. Publishers and books sellers are reporting that the e-book sales are up by as much as four or five times over last year.
Industry analysts and other are predicting this trend to continue. Steve Ballmer even thinks that electronic format will completely replace paper publications in about 10 years.
“There will be no media consumption left in 10 years that is not delivered over an IP network. There will be no magazines that are delivered in paper form. Everything get delivered in an electronic form.” Steve Ballmer.
This growing popularity of digital format is understandable. e-book has many advantages over its paper counterpart. I’ll list just a few of them here.
- Easy to carry.
- Accessible from anywhere. If you use any online storage service; like DropBox you can access your copy of e-book from anywhere where you have a computer and internet connection.
- Finding a phrase in an ebook is easier than in a paper book.
- They cost less to produce and hence are cheaper than paper books.
- Environment friendly. e-book reduces the usage of ink and paper that saves trees. Unless, ofcourse, if you want to print your version of e-book.
It is no surprise that many schools are adapting e-books for their students. I myself bought few e-books in last few months and I sure am happy with my experience.
Share your opinion about this growing trend. Do you like e-book format or not?
June 18, 2008 @ 2:37 pm
I am all about the advent of digital media taking over physical media, but there is something about books that make them special. Maybe it is the smell or that you can see how big your collection is. I really like books, but unfortunately they are going to be replaced. I also love digital media and cannot wait til everything from music to books to movies are in digital format. It will make the accessing information easier no matter what. And with accessing information almost instantly, I can see the world growing exponentially from that. Bring on e-books!
June 19, 2008 @ 9:39 am
I hope not, I still don’t like reading more than 1,000 or 1,500 words on a computer screen. I actually just duplex printed a 277 page PDF here at work because I need to write notes in the manual and highlight stuff for later use.
December 15, 2009 @ 11:31 am
“much more easier.”???
Apparently those in the digital age are already beginning to lose their language skills.
June 10, 2010 @ 8:16 pm
I am an advocate of print books that I can physically hold in my hand and turn the pages of.
However, there is one thing, and one thing only, that prevents me from purchasing an ebook reader. That is the fact that I would, essentially, be forced to re-purchase every book I currently own in print.
If one of the producers of the readers could come up with a way for a consumer to be granted rights to an electronic copy of books they own in print, I would be there in a heartbeat.
I’ve already come up with one solution, that also reduces the risk of cheating the system. If only I knew who to contact about implementing it…
January 9, 2012 @ 12:47 pm
hi i’m doing a project for a school newspaper, thanks this helped
June 12, 2012 @ 2:20 am
i like paper reading.
August 1, 2014 @ 2:21 pm
Asking questions are really good thing if you are not understanding anything
completely, except this article gives good understanding even.
April 4, 2017 @ 2:05 pm
glad to hear you’re enihsstautic. Just be careful not to push yourself too hard. Puking is usually not a good sign. Your body might be trying to tell you something?