Technical Difficulties: E-Books Advantages or Stuck on Paper

I fell into an internal argument I didn’t know I had until I started writing my argumentative Spanish paper. I picked ebooks versus paper books as my topic. I like to think I’m your average reader… When I find I book I want to read I get it. When I’m on my tablet and come across a book I do the same. As long as it is a book I’m interested with I can disregard it’s format, but this is reading for fun. When bringing the topic to digital textbooks versus paper textbooks the cost, the portability, the convenience – I realized it seems like the pros outweigh the cons. As you can see I found a dilemma and I became curious what others thoughts were. Would you prefer your textbook on a screen or on paper?

There’s more factors to this question than just preference. There’s also price, convenience, book availability. In my research for my paper I found that if majority of textbook sales sways to digital the prices will decrease further. Right now digital versus paper the prices vary, but mostly comparing prices the differences are a few dollars when buying new. Renting is a different story.

 Now consider this, rather than having to lug around one heavy textbook per class (sometimes two), we could have all our textbooks on one device. Anything simpler in the mornings is preferable, especially to a forgetful one like myself. Rather than having to remember a book (or two) per class, the ability to stick a tablet in my backpack everyday, probably a notebook as well, and then walk out the door just sounds so much easier.

Like clockwork our devices keep us up to date down to the minute and those digital textbooks update too. It seems every year they come out with a new edition of the same book that is more expensive than the last. I’d rather just update my tablet than buy another clunky book if we’re being honest. Convenience is key. Renting books has become huge because of the awesome prices we can score those expensive books. Renting ebooks I’ve found has been the most convenient way. No need to worry about late fees and the date the book is due back because the ebook disappears for you when it needs to be returned. With everything we have going on in our busy college lives, we deserve one less due date to worry about.

Now there are some important drawbacks to ebooks like the eyestrain, the dependency on batteries, no good book smell! Kicking it on the beach with a real paper book has been my summer routine for quite some time. However, the switch seems appealing, my Ipad has been good to me so far…

On the side of e-textbooks I’m in complete agreement: they’re up-to-date, convenient, and in most cases cheaper than the paper textbooks. I just think making the switch to e-books only would end in withdrawal from turning those sandy pages, diving into every plot twist. I’m curious if anyone else is having technical difficulties adjusting to our new e(book)-life?