Books obsolete

Books Obsolete? E-books taking over?

From the beginning of time paper books have been the soul means of historical documentation and the recording of stories, as to be passed down through the generations. With the new technology know as kindles, e-books, etc. the needs of paper books has drastically decreased. When it comes to storage, convenience, and quality, e-books will be giving paper books a run for their money. Here are the pros and cons of tablets vs. paper books and what might be more preferred in the later years to come. All readers know how much space books take up. They are under the bed, in the drawers of dressers, shelves filled to the brim with all kinds of stories waiting to be read. The inconvenience of needing a place to store all the books is the tricking situation. Unless the house has multiple floors with to many rooms to count, all these books are consuming valuable space. Without a personal librarian, finding certain books could be a lot harder then say having it on your tablet, looking up the name and its there in less then five seconds. This brings up the issue of finding certain books to buy through the e-book system. Not all books are available electronically, only the “popular”, newer books have come out as e-books. A reader cannot browse e-book store like a half-price-books, and none of the books will cost less then ten dollars. For those customers who enjoy clearance books, e-books will not go over smoothly if printed books stop being produced. Another aspect though, how convenient is it to order the book and as soon as its paid for you can start reading? No need to leave the house! On a rainy day this would not be argued against. Even renting a book is more convenient because there will be no lines to wait in or over due books, because one could not get to the library after work. Another point is lending a book to a friend, are one going to lend his or hers three hundred dollar tablet to someone who may have it for n amount of days? Books are meant for sharing information, and for opening other people’s eyes to different concepts. Children, as an example, like picture books being read aloud to them before bedtime, sure there colored tablets now a days but what if the picture is spread across two pages? The entire allusion would not make sense without the whole imagery meant to explain what may be happening. Printed books can be read outside on a sunny day, maybe while floating in a pool. True, books are not waterproof but they are not electronics either. Highlighting, side notes, comments can be made; research is easier with a printed book. Flipping through pages, having several books open when doing research is more productive. With e-books one must go page by page to find information of only one book at a time. They get a glare when reading outdoors even when cloudy, and would never dream of having them by water. Even though e-books are said to be more portable then books, what is the difference if only one book is being brought? Yes, the e-book may be lighter but printed books are not necessarily heavy. Then come the issue of textbooks, which are usually heavy, but have many examples for the text they contain. Without the picture there to show you a visual, how does the rader know they are getting all the fundamental learning agents?
Eyestrain is proven to be more common when involving computers then print on paper. In a dark room it is better to have a book light shining on the page then a screen bright with words on it. “Eyestrain occurs when your eyes get tired from intense use, such as driving a car for extended periods, reading or working at a computer”(mayoclinic.com). Reading it a lit room from print is a lot better then reading from a screen. One the other hand when it comes to reading the small print can be just as annoying. The e-book can make the text bigger for who may have bad eyesight. No magnifying glasses necessary for e-book users. When looking at the evolution of technology, certain products become outdated very quickly. As electronics become more advanced and are consistently being updated it may not be best to buy e-books because sooner or later the programs will only be met for the newest and most advanced technology out there. E-books have already been rapidly changing with the new things you can use them for. Tablets are now not only use for reading but for games, browsing the web, navigation, it’s becoming a bigger version of a smartphone without the calling aspect involved in it. So individuals will not just be buying it for reading purposes, which will end up as a minuscule “perk” of buying a tablet. However, all technology is not meant to last forever, they do have an expiration date in a sense, because the producers want individuals to buy another one when its eventually stops working as well as it did once. With printed books, as long as the owner maintains the condition of the item, could last many more years then a tablet. At the end of the day, the question of books becoming obsolete due to the creation of electronic books is not likely. Sure, e-books are useful and handy to have but, will never surpass the simplicity of reading a printed book. Paper books are more reliable then computer files; they do not “crash” and loose information. E-book tablets are becoming less and less meant for buying books and more used for entertainment purposes. As long as there are the individuals that enjoys holding the book in their hands, paper books will never cease to exist.