Comparison of e-books with printed books

Comparison of e-books with printed books

Disadvantages

E-books cannot be "read" on paper, so reading on an e-book is not really reading, it is called "screening" now, and it is very different, some say inferior, to reading.

Reading e-books requires an electronic device and software. Books don't.

A small book is easier to carry around than a typical e-book reader.

E-book readers require electrical power; in the case of mobile use, the battery can get exhausted.

E-book readers are more fragile than paper books and more susceptible to physical damage.

E-book readers can malfunction and e-books can be damaged due to faults in hardware or software. Books really malfunction.

E-book readers are more likely to be stolen than paper books.

Depending on the device, an e-book may be difficult to read in bright sunlight, for example at the beach in the summertime or on a picnic anytime of year.

Most publishers don't produce the e-book equivalent of their printed books. In other cases the product quality is lower or it is released later.

E-books can be easily hacked through the use of hardware or software modifications and widely disseminated on the Internet and/or other e-book readers, without approval from the author or publisher. This ease of piracy is a significant drawback for publishers.

If an e-book device is stolen, lost, or broken beyond repair, all e-books stored on the device may be lost.

There is a loss of tactility and aesthetics of book-bindings. Also lost is the ability to very quickly riffle through the pages to search for a particular section or to get a sense of the book merely by sight.
Screen resolution of reading devices may be lower than actual paper.[6]
Due to the digital rights management reselling or lending out an e-book may have complications.
Some books available as e-book cannot be read on some e-book readers because they are not supplied in a format those readers allow.[citation needed]
While printed books remain readable for ages, changing technologies and less durable electronic storage media require e-books to be copied to a new carrier after some years.
E-book readers require various substances to produce, and are an environmental hazard as they're non-biodegradable.
Physical discomfort for some users, including eye strain.
More expensive, whereas used books are cheaper and most often only a few dollars can be lost or stolen at one time.
A book will never break, but an ebook device can break, and a lot of money can be lost at one time.
One will never read thousands of books really well or over a short period of time, so the high amount held on an ebook reader becomes irrelevant.
A book is safe from electromagnetic pulses and overloads.
A whole paper book is never broken beyond repair, unless entirely burnt or decayed.

Advantages

Text can be searched automatically and cross-referenced using hyperlinks.
A single e-book reader containing several books is easier to carry around (less weight and volume) than the same books (or sometimes even a single book) in printed form. Even hundreds or thousands of books may be stored on the same device. Using removable media even more can be carried around easily.
Also at a fixed place such as at home it can be an advantage that an e-book collection requires very little space.
Mobile availability of e-books may be provided for users with a mobile data connection, so that these e-books need not be carried around.
E-books can allow non-permanent highlighting and annotation.
Font size and font face can be adjusted.
E-books may allow animated images or multimedia clips to be embedded.
E-books allow for greater fidelity in colour reproduction compared to CMYK colour printing (although some e-book readers have only monochrome displays).
Depending on the device an e-book may be readable in low light or even total darkness. For devices for which this applies, energy consumption for reading without daylight is less than that of a lamp needed for reading a printed book.
An e-book can automatically open at the last read page.
While an e-book reader costs much more than one book, the electronic texts are generally cheaper. Moreover, a great share of books are available for free, without any charge at all. For example, all fiction from before the year 1900 is in the public domain.
Text-to-speech software can be used to convert e-books to audio books automatically.
An e-book can be offered indefinitely, without ever going "out of print".
Depending on possible digital rights management, it may be easy and cheap to produce a back-up for the case that the e-book is lost or damaged, and/or it may be possible to get a free new copy if that happens.
It is easier for authors to self-publish e-books.
A free e-book can stimulate the sales of the printed version.[4]
The production of e-books does not consume paper, ink, etc.