E-Books vs. Traditional Books

eBook vs. traditional books The rise of eBooks and the death of print Despite the surprising success of a number of book 'franchises' such as the Harry Potter novels, The Hunger Games, and Fifty Shades of Grey, commentators continue to predict the looming death of printed books. Americans are buying fewer books, and even the major book chains like Barnes & Noble are struggling to stay relevant in an increasingly crowded, visually-driven media landscape.

A number of small, independent bookstores as well as the major bookstore chain Borders have gone out of business. The Internet has superseded many of the traditional functions of print and reading online does not entail additional costs to readers. However, there is one subset of the book market which is growing -- the eBook. Soon, eBooks are likely to dominate the marketplace at the expense of most print books, and this revolution will fundamentally change the nature of publishing. [THESIS] eBooks have a number of advantages over print books.

First and foremost, they are very easy to access. There is no need to go to a brick-and-mortar bookstore or library, or to wait for Amazon to deliver the book to your door. An owner of an Amazon Kindle or a Nook can simply point, click, pay, and download instantaneously.

Instant gratification has been a great facilitator for Internet shopping of all kinds, but it is particularly salutary for book-buying since a potential consumer often wants to enjoy the purchase immediately, even if it is 11pm at night and he or she is wearing pajamas. Also, someone with an e-reader who is waiting for a train or plane or is stuck at home due to bad weather or a sick child can easily amuse him or herself with a new purchase.

While eBooks fit well with the modern, technologically-driven lifestyle of multitasking, a leisurely stroll through a real world bookstore or library is not. eBooks also often offer more selection than even the largest bookstore or library or popular titles. Simply type in an area of interest in your Amazon Kindle like 'German Shepherds,' and a wealth of titles will appear which you never thought of reading until now. There is no need to request the book from the bookstore or library if it is out-of-stock.

Of course, when e-readers were first introduced people complained about the difficulties of reading on a screen, versus a page. These complaints echoed similar concerns during the early age of online reading, when people thought that online news could never replace print news. But consumers have adapted, and reading on an e-reader actually offers many advantages. The screen is lit from within, enabling the reader to read in the dark.

It is very easy for a traveler or simply someone taking a walk to carry literally hundreds of books, all encased within the slim confines of the reader. Unlike print books, eBooks do not cause ergonomic difficulties by weighing on the carrier's back. It is also possible to highlight eBooks without defacing them or dog-earing them. eBooks offer a number of potential, hidden cost savings. Because they do not entail the costs of making a print version, eBooks can be priced far more cheaply than standard books.

There is also the option of self-publishing through most e-commerce book sites, which enables unknown authors to sell their books, often at considerably reduced prices compared with well-known authors. This is perhaps the most potentially radical feature offered by eBooks. There is no need to create a book proposal to conform to the narrow specifications of a publisher, who simply wants to publish the 'same old thing' again and again. To some extent, publishers cannot be blamed, given the amount of money it takes to launch a print book.

However, an unknown author can self-publish an eBook with relatively little cost, and take great risks in terms of subject matter and treatment of different themes, given that the major sacrifice he or she is making is with time rather than money. Consumers with e-readers can buy such self-published titles, which often are offered for free or at the low-commitment cost of 99 cents. While it is true that e-readers do require an initial cost investment, the lower cost of the books balance out the cost for serious readers.

For many people, especially people living in small apartments, space is a premium and the costs saved by not having to have a storage unit, pay for movers when changing locations, or even pay for book shelves to house heavy books makes the choice of an e-reader an excellent value. Even if reading books has become less common as a hobby in the age of the Internet, the wild success of certain franchises shows that there is a contingent of serious readers who is willing and able to read.

Also, the major book franchises to take off in popularity like Harry Potter and the 50 Shades novels were even popular amongst individuals who generally classified themselves as non-readers. While it is true that children's books tend to be sold as paper-based books more than eBooks at present, because of their greater reliance upon visuals and the fact that very young children often do not have such technological devices, this is likely to change within the next 3-4 years.

E-readers are getting cheaper, which is likely to make them popular graduation and Christmas gifts, and children are growing more and more comfortable with reading for an extend period of time on screens rather than books. Using an e-reader more easily enables the reader to seamlessly check his or her email or Facebook page without shifting from a book to the screen, another advantage for readers who have grown up in a 24-7 online culture. E-readers offer particularly valuable cost savings for college students.

College students must often buy large, expensive textbooks, which they can ill-afford to do, because of the costs of attending university today. E-readers are cheaper, and because the books can be easily updated, this enables publishers to keep costs down, since they do not need to print an entirely new edition of a standard textbook every year. And for students who must walk long distances carrying books of all ages, toting around an e-reader is far easier on the shoulders and back than having to carry a massive suitcase of.