Since tablets and smartphones have been accessible to almost everyone, e-books have become a popular choice for readers. E-books are handy and easy to keep many books in a small micro SD card, drive, device’s memory, or online libraries. There are several benefits to reading online, making it a popular choice among readers. Despite a number of practical benefits of e-books, it eventually curtails some of the readers’ preferences. Both fans of e-books and hard copy claim their choice better for multiple reasons. However, both of them have some pros and cons. Let’s take a look at them and learn if it’s better to choose a printed book or an e-book.
E-books vs. Hardcopy
E-books have become the cause of attraction for the minimalists who don’t too much physical around them. A primary advantage of e-books is that they don’t occupy any physical space and can be kept in cards of about an inch. They don’t need bookshelves to be stored, are portable, and are beneficial for reading on the go.
As a reader or a book lover, you can access e-books anywhere through your smartphone. Get access to your Scribd or Kindle and get with the flow of reading anywhere. However, the lovers of hardcopy rarely understand the benefits of e-books and claim that the hard copies are tactile and sensible. They love the touch and smell of the paper while reading. They enjoy the feel and the overall experience of reading a physical book that is unattainable in e-reading.
Apart from space and storage concerns of hard and soft copies of books, there are several others pros and cons of both. Let’s have a look at them.
The Reading Experience
To get information and to remember them is easier for many people from physical books than e-books. Studies have shown that people remember more when they read from physical books. On the other hand, the experience of reading from an e-book might not be long-lasting as we read and come across a lot of material in a single day on the internet.
People are so used to skim the stuff on the internet that they find it difficult to develop the same focus as in the hard copies.
Built-in Light in E-books
E-books are accumulated with a backlight. This is an advantage for e-book lovers that they don’t need any other source of light to read the books at any time of the day and specifically at night. You can read a book at night without the need of switching on the lamps or external source of light.
However, the same benefit of a backlight emerges as a downside because when you become so indulged in reading your favorite book, you forget the time of the day and devote a lot of extra time. This can keep you awake excessively at night and might disturb your sleeping routine on a regular basis. This is why the doctors suggest preferring regular books over tablets.
Search ability
An added advantage of e-books is that it simplifies the search. You can reach any page by simply using the given search tab on a reading website or mobile app.
Shareability
You can share your e-books with your friends easily while you are reading them at the same time.
Audio
E-books are also available in audio versions. You can be benefited from listening to it while traveling or walking. You can enjoy the audio versions of e-books when you don’t feel like reading and exploring the book at once.
Cost
Another considerable debate between e-books and hard copies is the cost. The printing and publishing cost of e-books is lesser than the physical books. Thus the cheaper version of books attracts more people to switch to e-books.
Book Reading Platforms
Book Lovers can read books online from several platforms. There are different websites that allow readers to come and read books. Goodreads, Wattpad, BookBoon, and Internet Archive are one of the most common online reading platforms.
Apart from the platforms mentioned above, several mobile app development companies have put forward and developed exciting and engaging mobile apps for reading lovers. The following are some of the most popular book reading apps you can choose from.
- Goodreads
- Amazon Kindle
- Blinkist,
- SCRIBD
- Inkitt
- Libby by OverDrive
Conclusion
You may love whether enjoying a physical collection of books or an e-book version, but traditional books still have more recommendations than e-books. Books are definitely much more than an object for accessing information, but there is a whole sense of attachment and connection with them. Book readers love to keep an entire range of their favorites with them. Being surrounded by your favorite collections summons you to get a grab on them and go through them. It’s more feasible to sink deeply in a book when the collection is all around you. To infer, people usually don’t stick to any single form of books. They enjoy both versions depending on the time, mood, and ease of access. It is, however, wise to go with both the options and get benefited from both.
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