We are living in the 21st century which can also be called as the year of technology. Looking back, we did so many wonderful technological advancements. From a 128MB memory card to 128GB memory card, things have changed pretty much fast. But, there are some things which never changes. People still consider reading books as their favorite hobby and no matter how much technology evolves, I believe reading will always find its place in their day to day life. The passion for reading remains the same.
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Although, reading books now and reading books 5 years ago, are two different things. Earlier, we could easily find a person reading a book while travelling in a bus or while waiting for the train. But, now we find people drowned into their tablets / smartphones / kindles to read the same books. So, the obvious question arises, which one is the best? In this post, we are going to discuss about one of the biggest debates of 21st century – eBooks vs Books.
eBooks
Before going in detail about this post, let us understand what exactly is an eBook. An eBook is just an electronic version of a printed book which can be read on a computer, a smartphone/tablet or any such device. You have various free best eBook reader apps for downloading as well. There are several eBook formats, but EPUB and PDF are kinda very popular in this segment.
Amazon Kindle is considered as the best device for reading eBooks and it is specially designed for this purpose. Kindle offers some amazing features which are not there in other eBook reading apps. Kindle is always the first choice among users who prefer eBooks over Books.
Pros of eBooks
1. Easy to carry – Since it is a smartphone or a tablet, it can easily slip into your pockets. You don’t need to carry them in your hands often like physical books.
2. Countless eBooks – If you own a smartphone or tab, or better, Amazon Kindle, then you can store several eBooks in your device. Also if you are connected to the Internet then you can get access to various novels according to your desire. But, on the other hand, it is really difficult to carry even 10 physical books. With the rise of mobile usage, ebooks have been replacing textbooks lately, which consumes less space and time for every student.
3. Comfort – You can easily take notes, change the font size, magnify whenever you want and you can even copy the content and share them on your social media or in your diary. You can even read them in night without even disturbing other people. There is an inbuilt dictionary in so many eBook reading apps which makes the reading experience easy and simple.
4. Eco-Friendly – You don’t affect the environment while reading an eBook. No trees are destroyed to print the eBooks and you also save a lot of ink which eventually affects the environment.
5. Cheap and Free – There are chances that you may find a cheaper version of the same book but in an eBook format. Apart from that, you also gets a lot of free classic books in many eBook reading apps.
Cons of eBooks
1. Availability – Not every book has got an eBook version. It can be a difficult task to find an eBook for that not so famous book. And, in case you find one, it will cost you a lot for sure.
2. Eye-strain – This is the biggest con of reading eBooks. Since, you will be constantly staring at the screen of the device, it will strain your eyes, resulting in red-eyes or itchiness in eyes. (P.S. If you own a Kindle device, you’ll get better results, as compared to normal smartphones or tabs.)
3. Caring – You need to be careful while reading an eBook. If the device gets dropped or if you accidently spill any beverage on them, it will spoil the device. So, you need to be as much careful as you can. You can’t sleep with an eBook but, you can do with a book.
4. Battery Issue – An eBook reader needs a battery to run which can discharge anytime. Imagine you are at the climax of the book and suddenly your battery starts showing warnings and in the next minute, it’s dead.
5. You can’t share an eBook – Remember how good it felt when you give your book to your friend for reading and later he/she thanks you for lending such a wonderful book. Well, eBook deprives you from this joy. Sharing eBooks through Emails and Facebook won’t give you this much joy.
Books
Books don’t need any introduction. They are considered as some people’s best friends. They never complain and never demand, still they help you in so many different ways. When you hold them in your hands they give you a special feel.
Books are almost 1000+ years old, they started with handwritten content and ended with printed content. But still, books in general, are very popular.
Pros of Books
1. Availability – You can get books from anywhere. They are just available everywhere. Be it the book shop at the corner or the stall near the station, you can easily get a book near your location.
2. The Feel – Nothing can beat the feel of reading a new book. That lovely fragrance of new book and the way you keep it with so much care and love, is just beyond eBooks. Apart from this, books carry sentimental values too.
3. They are cheap – You can always get second hand good quality books at almost half the price of the original books. They even have several shops exclusively for selling such books.
4. No/less eye strain – Reading a book causes much less eye strain as compared with an eBook. If you are reading a book with correct siting posture and at a right distance, it won’t cause any eye strain at all.
5. Caring – You don’t need much care for books as you need with eBooks. You can place them anywhere, can throw them on your bed, can play ball with them and you can even sleep with them.
Cons of Books
1. Size – Books are heavy and big in size. You can only carry a book or two in your hands and you will need a bag to carry more books which is not a good option.
2. Affects Environment – No matter how much they claim, a single book will cost so many trees their life that you can’t just imagine. Although, recycling is an option but in the end, you are actually contributing for Green House effect.
3. You need a light source – You can’t read a book in a tunnel or a night without a light source, while an eBook can be read at any time of the day, same is not possible with a book.
4. Durability – Books are not much durable as eBooks. Either the ink get fades away or the paper starts degrading. An eBook can last for almost a century but maintaining a book for even 25 years is a very difficult task.
5. Book Self – You can store 200 eBooks in a tiny memory card, but you will need a whole room for keeping 200 physical books.
There is no doubt in the fact that some debates like these are endless. Nothing matters unless and until you are enjoying the reading part. Remember, it’s the content which matters not the medium. So do give a try for both of them and decide it for yourself.
Editor’s Note: We are running an active Facebook group for books exclusively, it’s called BookWritten. Do join if you are interested in talking about novels and you can also buy/sell them.