What is an e-book? In the following, we will answer this question and examine its advantages and disadvantages.
In the past, if you were interested in reading books, you would have to go to a bookstore and buy your favorite book. There were other limitations, for example, if you wanted to buy a large number of books which were heavy and big, you would have trouble carrying it.
Print books become timeworn and old after a long time and can no longer be read. They may be damaged by contact with water, or book pages may tear out while flipping.
Today, in addition to print books, audio and e-books are also available to the public. With the advent of e-books, these problems were solved and the number of book lovers increased many times.
Who is the inventor of the first e-book?
E-book which is short form of electronic book is a book that is produced and read in the form of digital files. E-books are not just e-versions of written subjects, but can include video and audio in addition to text and image. E-books are readable on special e-reader devices, but also on any computer device that has controllable monitors, such as computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones.
Although e-books are sometimes referred to as the “electronic version of a print book”, many e-books do not have a print equivalent. There is no agreement on the inventor of the e-book, but some consider a Spanish teacher named Angela Ruiz Robles (1949) to be the inventor of the first e-book.
Advantages of e-book
One of the great benefits of e-books is that they are easily accessible, which means that e-books are always with you and you can travel wherever you want, no matter how far you go, just keep your smartphone in your pocket.
Another advantage of e-books is the convenience in carrying. Unlike print books which have weight and bulk, you can move millions of e-books without incurring any additional load. In fact, moving books is done by moving your smartphone.
Not harming to the environment is also one of the benefits of e-books. Since the production of any print book requires paper, it causes irreparable damage to nature. Fortunately, this disadvantage has been completely eliminated in the production of e-books.
Suppose you decide to read a print book in a dark place, this is not possible. While reading e-books, you can use the light of your smartphone and read your e-book.
The ability to search quickly is an amazing advantage of e-book. Imagine you are reading a printed book, you have lost the page you were reading and you have to take a lot of time to find it. But in the e-book, you do not need to spend a lot of time finding the missing page, just type the desired word to reach that page automatically.
Newer versions of e-books are usually published at the same time as the printed version, and you can purchase them at a lower price. The reason for this price reduction is that paper is not used in the production of e-books, so the cost of paper and printing is eliminated.
Disadvantages of e-book
On the other hand, e-books also have disadvantages, one of which is the reduction of learning. According to a study conducted in a research, reading e-books compared to print books have a lower comprehension and learning.
Another disadvantage of e-books is physical damage and fatigue. Prolonged looking at a screen causes eye strain and impairs vision, but this is not the case with print books.
You may be in a place where you do not have access to the charger of your e-device and you do not have enough battery charge to read the e-book. This is another disadvantage of the e-book.
In print books, the rights of the author are fully observed and the profit from the sale of the book goes back to the author and the publisher, but e-books are easily copied, while the author and publisher are completely uninformed, which means copyright infringement.
Conclusion
In general, despite the expression of these advantages and disadvantages, the personality traits of the reader are an important factor in choosing the type of book. You may still be a fan of print books, but e-books are environmentally friendly and a good alternative to print books.