Print Vs E-books

Today we have a big controversy on whether or not Printed books are becoming a past reality with the access of E-books at our fingertips. Why choose to buy books with the hassle of carrying all of them, when you could have all the books of your dreams on one device to carry wherever you go? Or why choose to have to read on a technological device, when you could read an actual printed book to better your learning and understanding? What do you think? Well, Textbooks and other books have slowly been on a steady decline with E-books being part of our market world today, but E-books do not seem to own the market just yet… Many people seem to still be satisfied with the advantages given through the basic printed books that E-books can’t seem to offer as part of their system. Many people seem to learn better with the basic print due to the more hands-on experience, but with technology constantly changing the world around us, that may soon come to an end with the new E-books…

1) Why do we feel Basic Print may be better and have better advantages to offer?

-Well first off printed books can offer a more generic, and in my opinion, a more necessary way of learning. With printed books, you get more of the hands-on experience that e-books cannot offer and with my personal experiences, as well as many other college students, a lot of us do a whole lot better when it comes to learning with a textbook! A book can offer a lot more when it comes to learning to be able to see each word on every page, rather than scrolling through your electronic device. Don’t get me wrong, E-books have a much more efficient way of finding certain words or definitions with just a click of a button, but I feel as if you don’t get the most out of your learning, as you would if you had an actual book.

-Another reason or advantage that basic print has to offer is the amount of focus that it allows on your attention to reading. With E-books, you can get all caught up with the different settings it has or even with the other games and such you have loaded on your device, but with reading a textbook, there is only ONE setting with NO distractions! Personally when I am on my tablet or computer trying to read an article or a story for one of my classes, I constantly find myself getting distracted with the games and advertisement, which I am not being able to absorb the amount of information needed to be successful with that chosen article or story. Not only is an E-book very distracting, it also is not very good for your eyes, concentrating on a device for that long of time as it is for a book. Studies have shown, that staring at a bright screen for long period of time can result in dry eye, tension headaches, and even strain your eyes to the point that you need to go to a doctor. I don’t know about you, but to me that is something that can definitely be prevented, just by the use of a printed text.

2) Why do we feel E-books are more efficient and have more to offer us?

-Well first off, E-books can be very interactive and engaging in the ways we learn and understand the material we are learning. Most of the time, E-books will have an engaging reader who can read you the words and even help you pronounce a term while giving you a definition to help make the sentence more understandable. E-books can even zoom in and on the words you are struggling with and can break it down to an exact definition. Not only can an E-book be very effective in defining terms and engaging the readers, it also is very big in being VERY convenient!!

• Convenience is key when working with E-books and other E-readers. They allow for many books to be downloaded onto their device without any hassle of needing to carry around the different books, but instead offer you all the books you are wanting to engage in with just a click of a button, how easy is that? They also allow for an easy way to become connected with the story you are reading and allow for a convenient way to purchase and use the e-book wherever you are, whether it be on the road or just in the comfort of your own home!

3) What do we see happening in the near future?

-With technology on the rise so rapidly and more and more kids starting to utilize the resources of the technology around them, I believe that E-books and E-readers are eventually going to increase more and more! While most of us still like the way of old fashioned textbooks/books because we learn and engage more, the majority of the new generations are going to be more inclined to use the technology presented in front of them. Although in my opinion, reading a printed book helps me to focus my attention and absorb more of the text, the convenience of E-books are going to take over the book industry and start to dwindle out printed text as new generations continue to grow.

4) YOUR Feedback:

-I would love to hear your opinion on this matter of printed text vs. E-books. How do you feel the future is going to be impacted due to the amount of technology being presented to our youngest generations? Do you believe that printed text will hold its ground against the new rise of E-books, or do you believe that as the future starts to come more to a near that printed text will start become more of a past reality?