Paperback or e-book – You Choose

A million Dollar Question for the book lovers?

Most book lovers and avid readers would travel back in memory towards their childhood. The enjoyment you might have had of going to the ‘Drive – in Hotel’ near Gemini flyover, eating with your parents, brothers and sisters, playing in the children’s park. The icing on the cake is after everything is over and you are about to leave. The bookseller selling Comics of Phantom, Mandrake, Tarzan and War comics too. All children wait eagerly for Sunday to come so Mom and Dad take you to Drive In. Taking the Horse Carriage ride and secretly opening the book inside the carriage as the horse carriage goes around the Hotel surroundings for a long ride. People who have resided in Chennai’s then Madras, in the 70’s and 80’s would go into nostalgia reading this.

Fast forward to the present Day. Children of today have their parents’ cell phone even in a hotel or a cinema. As for book lovers quite a few of you might have certainly tried out e-books.

With the advent of Electronic media there are a few advantages e-books have over the conventional paperback.

 

Advantages of e-books

1. All the books are available to you at one place either your laptop or your cell phone.
2. You can easily search any book you need online.
3. It is easy to update whatever you have written with no cost involved. When the author needs to update certain parts of the eBook, he or she simply edits the electronic document, saves the updated version, and then informs customers about the new release.
4. All books are virtually free online.

 

Disadvantages of e-books

1. All eBooks need a power source. You need to carry a charger for your device with which you read an eBook at all times. E-Book readers are special devices or programs on a computer that allow the user to access the book electronically.  There is absolutely no paper involved.  If there is a power outage and the batteries die the user will not be able to access the book. 

 

2. Also accompanied by an e book is the eye strain that comes with an electronic device or e-reader

 

3. eBooks cost money Although some eBook readers are free software programs, the top 10 reviewed, Readers are all commercial devices that cost money to use. The number one rated reading device, the Kindle 2, costs Rs 20,000/- Of the remaining devices in the top 10, the prices range from the lowest being to Rs 20,000.  This does not include additional costs that surround buying or renting new books directly to the device.

 

4.  Programs need to be compatible with the computer or device.  There are other software programs that can load directly onto a computer or handheld PDA.  However, with the many operating systems that are out there and computer devices, not all programs are compatible with every computer.

5. Programs need patching for security vulnerabilities.  Three major, free, software programs for E-Booking are Acrobat E-Book Reader, Microsoft Reader, and Palm Reader. Any program that is on a computer and can be connected to the internet can be risky to the computer or device by creating vulnerabilities for attackers to exploit.  For example, the website bugtraq.com follows new vulnerabilities and bugs reported a vulnerability found in the Acrobat E-Book Reader.  Like any program, especially Adobe and Microsoft products, require security patches and updates to protect against these vulnerabilities.

6. Anti-Virus, Anti-Malware and Spyware may change registry information.  Often times, programs similar to Spybot will alert the user to vulnerabilities and changes to the registry.   The registry is the components that allow a program to work.  Anytime a software program is updated, the registry entry will change.   An alert will pop up via the anti-spyware service, asking if the user will allow the registry change.  When a virus is on a program, the registry will try to change, denying it will stop the virus.  Often times after an update, allowing the change to the registry will allow the program to continue running, and denying the change will make the program malfunction.  The user may not understand the change, mistake the update for a virus, and deny a crucial registry change that allows the E-Book reader to work.

7. Not all book formats are compatible with the reader.  Every E-Book reader will allow different formats of text files to be read.  Examples of format types are PDF, Word, PDB, HTML, BBeB, etc.  Depending on the file type of the book, the reader a user has may not allow it.

8. E-books do not have a defined life.   New technologies are always emerging; for example, new computers or hand-held devices.  Software and hardware can become outdated that contain components that can run a user’s E-Book reader.  When upgrading to newer software, the user runs the risk of losing saved books or losing formatting of the document.

9. E-Books can be hacked. E-book Readers are able to connect to the internet to shop for different E-books. Hackers are able to use their computers to hack E-Book readers and E-Books. People are now pirating E-Books just as they are able to pirate music.

 

Paperbacks

Paperbacks or conventional books are treasures sometimes being passed on down the generations. The pages are bound together, and the book has either a hardcover or softcover (paperback). The single most important difference is that print books have static layouts that once printed do not change, it is an ocean to explore. Let us see why is it people prefer paperbacks to e-books?

Print books have some advantages over e-books, including that they have the feel of a book that many readers love. Also, for those who like to read as they fall asleep, paper books make a better choice since there's no eye strain that comes with an electronic device or e-reader. With a paperback you can switch on the nightlamp and keep reading until you doze off. It is easy to carry and does not require a battery source to open. paper books make a better choice since there's no eye strain that comes with an electronic device or e-reader. TOI Books recently conducted a Twitter poll and asked its readers to choose their reading preferences between an eBook, a reading app or a paperback. 82 percent people voted for paperbacks, 15 percent preferred eBooks and 3 percent preferred a reading app. This interesting trend signifies that we still believe in the power of touch. The feeling of holding a book and turning the pages is something that can never be done with an eBook. Not to forget that a paperback is the most trusted companion during travel.

 

Why paperbacks are better than ebooks?

Electronic readers suppress the brain's production of melatonin and make it harder to fall asleep. eBooks require higher cognitive effort and it hurts the eyes, so paper books are healthiest for night-time reading (or studying).

Should I buy eBook or regular book?

Ability to skim quickly: It is easier to skim a real book than an eBook, Cheaper than eBook reader: A printed book is much cheaper than the eBook reader. If you don't read much, a print book will be more economical. But if you read a lot of books, the overall cost is reduced with an eBook reader.

 

Overall, there are advantages and disadvantages both in eBook and a paperback book. In the end a paperback is always better when you buy a second hand book that way you are reducing, reusing and recycling the paper in an efficient way since books that are printed once are kept for the full length of its life by way of second hand use. Hope this article gives you clarity about mainly why eBook is a better option when coming to eBook or paperback. You can visit our website <usedbooksfactory.com> in order to buy any second hand book at a very reasonable rate. There are a lot of categories of books in our website some of them include fiction, non-fiction, UPSC, Comics etc. We ship books all over India and in some cases abroad as well. We have taken an initiative to make change in the environment by selling second hand books. Please support us for the slogan “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle” the Triple R’s. We stand out in google rating just for the quality of books we sell. We look to providing you with a prompt service and a satisfactory customer support. Please do try our website and Rate us in google with your own experience of our service. We are currently based in Chennai. We invite all the local second hand book sellers in their respective cities to contact us in order to grow their reach of customers all over India and become an established seller in our website.