The pros and cons of e-readers over traditional books

The pros and cons of e-readers over traditional books

Entertainment today is all about accessibility and immediacy - and that means engrossing new technology whenever possible. Even books, the most traditional form of media entertainment, have made the jump to digital in recent years, joining the likes of music and movies. For hundreds of years people have read books on all matters, from fiction to geography but, today, the time-tested format of paper books has been brought into the 21st century thanks to e-readers. An e-reader is essentially any hand-held electronic device that can be used to display books on digitally. Though literary purists may argue the fact, there are many advantages to reading from an e-reader; though there can be disadvantages too.

For real bookworms, the biggest advantage is probably the cost. The most basic brands of e-readers can be bought online for under 100 and an e-book can be purchased from many large online book sellers for as little as fifty pence. Even the best-sellers and latest releases can usually be found at between two to three pounds. Compare this to buying actual paperback and hardback books and the difference is astounding. A single newly released hardback bestseller could be anything up to 20 alone.

Another pro to using an e-reader is the convenience of size and immediate choice available. Imagine you are going on holiday and don't know which novels to take with you. There isn't much luggage space so a keen reader would previously have had to stuff a few of their chosen reads into their suitcase and hope that they didn't run out before their holiday finished. Now however, an e-reader can store anything up to thousands of books, enabling owners to simply scroll through the options. And, if you haven't already downloaded the book you want, you can simply wirelessly connect to the internet and download it with a few clicks of a button. Considering that most e-readers weigh the same as an actually paperback and are about the same size, this is revolutionary for enthusiastic readers on the move.

However, there are disadvantages to choosing an e-reader. Whereas size is an advantage it can also be a disadvantage, as losing your e-reader could mean losing hundreds or even thousands of pounds of downloaded books; not to mention the device itself is worth considerably more than most books. Also, many readers find it hard to read from a digital screen, despite the great lengths manufacturers have gone to replicate the matt-look of real paper. Cheaper e-readers may still have a reflective screen that produces glare in sunlight, and many readers find information read from a screen far harder to remember than information printed in ink.

A final disadvantage of e-readers, and one that has also afflicted the music and movie industry, is the impersonal quality of an e-book. Whereas traditional books come with cover artwork and linear notes and maybe even quirky extras or pictures, an e-book novel will usually just be standard print, so part of the writer's original intention will always be lost in the digital translation.

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