By Ridhi Murari:
So, modern day man is confronted with yet another problem of the first world. Technology has advanced to great levels now, not just in the first world countries but also the third world ones. Reforms are already in full swing. Digitization of the television just exemplifies what is to come with further developments.
After television, the next source of entertainment, education and what constitutes a huge part of our lives, are books. When it comes to books, I have a few reasons why the eBook isn’t that bad a bargain after all:
Eco- Friendly: The eBook saves paper. That in turn is a boon to all trees and literally saves a lot of them from early deaths. Thanks to technology, we get what we want at lesser costs than necessary. I think that is reason enough to switch to eBooks.
Portable: As fast paced as our lives are these days, travelling, shifting and other forms of migration from place to place lead to a lot of books going astray and resulting in space or weight problems. eBooks are something you can easily travel with anywhere, anytime and with multiple copies of all the books you need, at one place.
Sample this: Usually, more often than not, with eBooks you have the liberty to sample a few chapters before indulging in buying the books. Try one before you invest in one. That gives many people the option of choosing what to spend on wisely. Hard copies take time in filtering if it might turn out to be a good read or something you wish you hadn’t bought. Freedom in the tiniest of ways is liberating.
Multiplicity: Imagine having to carry a few books with you wherever you go. Rather than the strain of having to bear through the tangible and physically exhausting method of bearing the weight of books, you can easily hold multiple books at the same time in the form of eBooks, easily accessible whenever you need them.
Resources: Devices mostly have built in dictionaries which ease your troubles of looking up a word when you don’t know the meaning of one. It helps you understand the exact context and remember it right there and then, saving us from the hassles of mental strain.
Academics: While writing an assignment, paper or project, students need information from the world wide web. eBooks can help in the form of reference material or just about all the information required and help us adapt quicker to the new method of instruction by reading online and enhancing our efficiency for the future.
Easy on the Wallet: eBooks have been known for being cheaper than hard copies of books. They’re easy on the wallet, affordable and easy to store. They can be used numerous times and shared in some cases too.
Wear and Tear: After a while, hard copies succumb to wear and tear and aren’t easy to maintain. They take up a lot of space at home and their condition deteriorates over a period of time. However, all such problems stand redundant with eBooks. Since they aren’t tangible, they save one from the problematic wear and tear system faced by previous generations.
Highlighting\ Note taking: Some of us want some things written in the book to stay with us so we end up underlining, highlighting or making notes of them right there which makes it untidy. In e-books one can highlight, underline and remove it all without worrying about tainting the book.
Short, simple, efficient, enhanced modern day readers’ adaptability to eBooks is an emerging phenomenon and one to stay. Even though the hard copies shall always hold sentimental value in our hearts, we also have the ability to retain a little bit of the old and accommodate something new.