We all know just how much technology has changed the world, and how the digital landscape has become so dominant these days. There are so many areas that have been changed forever as a result of technology, and reading is one of these areas. Whereas in years gone by, books existed in paper form, recent times has given rise to digital formats, specifically ebooks.
Since the development of the Kindle and the iPad, digital reading has become much more popular, and ebooks are pretty dominant in the marketplace. This has led to a debate over whether or not ebooks are going to replace physical ones. Now, of course, nobody can answer this question for sure, but there are things to look at on either side.
They could
There is good reason to think that ebooks will replace paper ones, especially as we move toward a more technology dominated world. These are some of the key reasons why we think ebooks will end up replacing written ones. Imagine you’re jetting off on vacation for a week or so, and you need some reading material. If you’re a voracious reader, you might pack two, or even three books with you! Now, a lot of the books released these days tend to be weighty tomes, and these add extra weight and take up space in your case! Well, if you use a Kindle or e-reader, you can take hundreds of books with you, on one small, convenient device. This is a no-brainer and makes things significantly more convenient. Also, it is often argued that ebooks actually cost less than paper books. It is true for a large part of them, and there are loads of ebooks you can get for free. Buying an ebook through the Kindle store is likely to cost you less than buying a physical copy, and you can do it from your own home, without even having to get out of bed.
They could not
Despite some of the more obvious points, it’s perfectly possible that written books might be around for a long time. So, here’s why we think print books are going to continue to remain popular. Hold on, a book’s a book, right? The format won’t have any bearing on my enjoyment? Well, actually this is not strictly true. Studies have shown that, although ebooks are just as useful for reading and ingesting short passages, readers actually remember more, and are more immersed when reading paper books. This feeling and experience is one that can’t be replicated on a Kindle or e-reader.
Of course, it’s subjective, but, as a rule, books have a wonderful aesthetic beauty to them. Think about how good that hardback looks on your bookshelf. Consider how sleek and smart the Harry Potter collection is lined up all in a row. This is something you simply cannot get from having ebooks stored on a device. There is something about the visual beauty of physical books that cannot be imitated.
These are some of the arguments for and against ebooks replacing physical ones. It seems like something that may well eventually occur, but it could be way into the future. It’s pretty obvious that ebooks are growing in popularity, but, there is still a market for paper books, and, as long as they continue to sell, they will continue to be produced.
