Books vs. eBooks

Having this debate is the same as comparing Traditional things versus Modern ones. The only thing constant is change and with change comes progress. As years pass, modern technology takes its firm foothold in our households and makes every other appliance and device obsolete.

Gramophones are replaced by media players, old telephones are replaced my mobile phones, big heavy TV sets  probably no longer exist as flat screen TVs now adorn every household. There are so many gadgets and electronics that have taken the place of old devices. I'm writing this on a laptop, for example. Not on a typewriter.

When I say that progress is good an inevitable, I do not mean that the "old" things are forgotten. Many would still swear that music sounds a lot sweeter on gramophones. People may have mobile phones to tell them the time, but they still wear watches. Some chefs still prefer chopping up vegetables rather than using food processors. The "old" is still here to stay.

There is nothing more comforting than curling up in bed with a thick paperback and immersing myself in a great tale. What makes this experience even grander is the sweet, slightly woody smell of a brand new novel.

Many would argue that the same cannot be experienced when reading a book on an electronic device. While that is true, eReaders have a lot more advantages than a traditional reader may think.  

Apart from the obvious fact that pretty much no paper is used in manufacturing eBooks, there are also a lot of facilities eBooks offer that enhance the reading experience.

Many eReaders have the option of letting you play music while you read. Any music- meaning that you can download anything you want without the hassle of going to a music store and looking for them. Especially classical music that is hard to find nowadays.

Then there is the feature of increasing the font, changing the brightness, according to the comfort you desire. And Bookmarks! How I love bookmarks since I have messed up my paperbacks due to folding the pages so that I can read it later.

In my own experience, I have to say that I find electronic devices convenient. They are easier to carry in your bag or purse and one gadget has everything you could possibly want. I can read stories on my phone whenever and wherever. I remember waiting for my books to arrive after shifting homes and had literally nothing to do.

The one thing I did have in my pocket was my mobile phone and in an instant, I could find the book I wanted to read and even start reading it immediately after download.

The drawbacks? Yes, there are some cons to reading books on your device. The sweet smell of freshly published books is absent, the eReader could run out of battery and you may have to charge it just when you did have some free time to read it and in a worst case scenario (I shudder to even imagine it), one could break their device, lose all the eBooks they had purchased and have to pay to get it fixed.

Oh, and good eReaders also cost a lot to purchase. And added with the cost of purchasing ebooks, that I suppose makes the cost of reading one story for example higher than buying the print book.

There is one more thing to consider. Nowadays, children prefer spending time playing games on tablets and smartphones rather than the normal toys to the extent that the studies showed that only 0.5 percent of kids read actual books in the GCC.

In order to encourage children to read, downloading eBooks for them would be another way to introduce education to them and get them interested in the world of fiction.