We have seen quite advancements from reading by candlelight to reading on the devices. Technology has made many such wonderful things possible. Portability is one such feature of e-books that have offered multiple benefits. We don’t have to take trips to libraries, we have digital libraries to explore. Do you want to know the works of your favorite authors? Simply use your device and all the books will be at your fingertips. You could get more benefits from e-books if you are someone who doesn’t like to go out often or are always on the go. The best part is that you can read e-books on any device anytime. Want to know what e-books are all about, keep reading to learn their advantages and disadvantages.
6 Advantages of E-Books
No doubt, books are man’s best friends, but e-books come with a bunch of benefits. Here are some advantages of e-books.
1. Easy accessibility
We live in a busy world where we are exposed to infinite content. Sometimes, it’s hard to decide what to read and how to get started. In such cases, e-books allow you to explore many topics and download them for later use. So, you don’t have to worry about being overwhelmed and getting confused. You can easily carry them and access them whenever you want. With physical books, you have to either visit the book store or order online, in both the situation, you need to invest time. But it is not the same with e-books, you can get access to it in no time.
2. E-books are portable
If you have too much on your plate, then you should definitely try e-books. Firstly, you won’t need to take out time to read it, you can read them whenever you get free time here and there. Carrying a physical book along with you can be a burden, replacing it with digital books lets you get the benefits from the book without facing the problems that come along with storage and maintenance of the physical book. Moreover, you cannot carry physical books everywhere. With e-books, it doesn’t matter which event you are attending, you can always read them from your device.
3. Affordable
To understand the affordability of e-books, let’s get into details. The cost of printed books can be higher compared to e-books because many steps are involved. In printed books, there are multiple costs such as a paperback cover, paper printing, packaging, as well as shipping. Since there is no pre-production involved in e-books, you can invest in this. It will be one of the most pocket-friendly decisions you’ll ever make.
4. Offers a variety
You can increase your knowledge significantly by learning about different perspectives. What’s better than using e-books to achieve this goal? E-books offer you a variety of topics to explore, and you can always get something to learn, whether it is fictional or non-fictional. Furthermore, you can store various e-books on one device, and no longer have to worry about storage concerns.
5. Saves time
The e-books were developed with the intention of saving time. You can save a significant amount of time by switching to e-books. Previously, people had to invest a lot of time in getting the books that they were looking for. Sometimes, all these efforts and time used to go in vain, if the required book was not available in the nearby location. But, none of these factors have to hold you back anymore, with e-books you can easily get what you want, and save a lot of your time.
6. E-books are eco-friendly
Traditional books required paper for printing. Paper that was available after cutting trees. Although one can argue that there weren’t enough books printed to harm the globe, we have to understand that the consumption capacity of an audience is much higher today. And there are not only books to consider. We have print media, newspapers, magazines, and other products that require paper.
What E-books have done is that they have removed the need for paper to enjoy printed materials. Now, we can enjoy our favorite newspapers online, subscribe to the latest fashion magazines digitally, and read books on our tablets. It is a change, sure, but one that is much easier on the planet.
6 Disadvantages of E-Books
We saw how e-books are a pocket-friendly option with a good deal of benefits. But, on the other hand, it has its shortcomings. Here are the disadvantages of e-books.
1. Lacks book satisfaction
You might have heard how people adore the smell of old books. Unfortunately, e-books don’t provide book satisfaction. Despite providing many wonderful features, the feeling of holding a printed book with a cup of coffee will still remain at the core. Turning the pages of the books give you an idea of how much you have covered, and how much is left to complete. But with e-books, you have to check the pages you have completed, and the remaining pages left.
2. Requires device
The biggest drawback of e-books is that you need a device to read them. Even though you can read them on any device, you still need a device to get started. Furthermore, people who don’t own devices cannot get the benefits of e-books. There are other factors such as charging and environment that impact the reading experience. If your device is not charged, you cannot read e-books. And, if there is the glare of the sun, then it is difficult to read from the screen.
3. Increases screen time
If you are already working from your devices, then reading e-books can cause strain to your eyes. With printed books, you can still use them for leisure. But, reading e-books increases your screen time. Moreover, reading from the screen has its own disadvantages. If you read it before bedtime, then it will impact your sleep cycle.
4. Risk of loss
The printed books are at risk of physical damage and loss, but with e-books, the risk of loss is higher. You need to back up your files, and if for some reason, you don’t do so and accidentally end up deleting the files, you’ll lose track of your progress. No doubt, you can easily use applications to store all your favorite e-books and track your progress, but if the service provider discontinues the service or make changes to the application, you’ll have no control over it.
5. Piracy concerns
We discussed the disadvantages of e-books that users face, now let’s look at piracy concerns faced by authors and publishers. With printed books, piracy issues were less, as it was time-consuming and incurred costs. But since e-books are becoming popular, there is an increase in piracy issues. As it is easier to share files or copy text from one file to others. In the battle between technology vs books, piracy is certainly a huge scaling factor.
6. Screen glare can ruin the experience
Although reading books on your Kindle is the new norm, there are unlimited devices available in the market that support e-books. With so many devices, there have to be numerous applications too. But no matter what combo you try, there is no hiding from the fact that you are still on a screen. A bright screen and its constant glare can; not only cause eye damage, but also ruin the reading experience.