eBooks vs Physical
The Problem
As an avid reader, I want to read as many books
as possible. However, this has lead to problems over the years. For one, books
cost money to purchase. While you can save money by purchasing used books or
going to a website like thriftbooks.com* in order to save money, you could
still end up purchasing a book you don’t like and have it take up valuable
bookshelf real estate. Especially, since I am going through classic lists in
order to determine whether the book is really a classic or not according
to my criteria, I don’t want to be spending money on books I don’t like.
In high school, my main response to this was to first beg my mom to take me to
the library to pick up books from the inter-library loan and then, once I could
drive, pick them up myself. Similarly, now that I am at college, I can do the
same thing with the university library.
History of eBooks
However, I must confess that even then I still
am impatient waiting for the books to arrive. In this digital age, we are used
to having what we want right at our fingertips the moment we want to the point
where we get annoyed if the webpage doesn’t load immediately and instead takes,
heaven forbid, an entire minute to appear. Therefore, the ebook was invented.
Who invented it? Well there are several options. It could be Ángela Robles in
1949 with her patented mechanical encyclopedia, but it never made it to
production (1). Another contender is Robert Busa with his “electronic index to
the works of Thomas Aquinas” (1) in the 1970s. In the 60s, Doug Engelbart and
Andries Van Dam worked on FRESS (File Retrieval and Editing System) documents,
which had tables of contents, indexes, and so forth. Finally Michael Hart is
often proported to be the creator of eBooks in 1971, as he typed up the United
States Declaration of Independence into an electronic document.
The Science
Since the emergence of eBooks, at
whichever date you prefer from 1949 with Robles to 1971 with Hart, a debate has
erupted within communities of readers. Which is better eBooks or physical
books? According to CBS news several small studies show that reading on paper
can cause better retention (2). When asked, one of the researches suggested
that the physical progress demonstrated through turning pages, might help
people remember the order of events better. Paper can also help people
struggling with sleep problems and eyestrain (2).
However, some eReaders have frontlights instead
of backlights in order to limit the strain on your eyes (3) and programs like f.lux**
help your computer screen to reflect the light outside so as not to disrupt
your sleep. On the other hand, one study suggested that people might connect
better emotionally to characters, when reading physical books as opposed to
eBooks (4). This could be because it’s difficult to not multitask when reading
eBooks, because often the devices we read on have other functions than just
reading (4). But none of these studies seem very conclusive.
Not All eBooks are Equal
So the debate still rages, especially since if
you don’t like one format of an eBook, another might work better. They aren’t
all the same. Some, like most libraries’
downloads, have better readability, because they are set up like a book with
side-by-side pages. Those are my favorite. Other databases, like Project
Gutenberg, have a great breadth of free eBooks, but it’s easy to loose your
place, because it’s just one long scrollable document (think like an online
news article, but it’s got over 300 pages). Nooks (similar to a kindle) are a
great way to carry a bunch of books with you at once, and it holds a decent
change, and doesn’t have the blue light that keeps you awake. However, while
the book is separated into pages, it still doesn’t have the classic
side-by-side format.
Personal Pros and Cons
As I mentioned, there are a variety of options
for eBooks from kindles and nooks, to project gutenberg.org with over 57
thousand free eBooks. A lot of libraries also have free eBooks and macs have an
ibooks store. Nevertheless, a lot of people don’t like eBooks, preferring
instead the feel of physical books. Where do I stand on this? To be honest I
like physical books the best. Turning the pages and holding the book in my
hands is the best plus I never need to worry about it running out of battery.
However, as I said the physical books take either time and or money to acquire.
So while I wait for physical books to arrive, I read all the eBooks I can get
my hands on.
My System
For my
personal use, I generally just read eBooks on my computer, in whatever format
gets me the book quickest, and then I chose by readability and format. Nevertheless,
whenever possible (i.e. I’m patient enough or I ordered the book ahead of
time), I read physical books.
How about you?
What versions of eBooks have you
tried? Do you still prefer physical books? Does it depend on the situation,
cost, or appearance? Let me know in the comments!
Notes:
* still not making any money
off of this
** see above note
(3) TheEbookReader.com. "Frontlights Explained– Why eBook Readers Don't Have Backlights." on Blog.the-ebook-reader.com
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