*UPDATE*
After rereading this post, I realized that it may have come off as me telling you why you shouldn't get an eReader. That is not the case.
In the past, I have heard people say that they will not buy an eReader, because eBooks are going to wipe out physical books completely. This is my take on that. I do not believe that physical books will ever be completely wiped out.
I apologize if this came off as me bashing the eReader. I'm not trying to do that. In fact, I've been looking into buying one.
Now, before some of you freak out and go, "ARE YOU NOT READING ANYMORE?" and all of that, let me just say this:
This is a rant. I am ranting about eReaders taking over and why I think that is total BS.
I am going to continue to read no matter what. Books are not going to cease to exist. That's total crap.
Now, with eReaders like the Kindle, Nook, and Kobo being released, many people have adopted the mindset that books will no longer be available in physical form. While I do think that eBooks are useful and handy, I think that they're a bit unnecessary. I certainly don't think that eBook are going to take over any time soon.
Look at it like this: While eReaders offer you the ability to be able to take several books with you, they do have their setbacks. Schools (At least, my school.) doesn't allow technology from home unless you turn them into the teacher. Now, while I haven't actually asked my teacher if they were allowed, I still don't think I'd bring an eReader to school. My school isn't the worst school, but it's certainly got it's problems. People have stolen books from lockers, among other personal items. It happens. Now, let's say I bring my shiny eReader to school, which most likely cost over 100 dollars (not counting however much I've spent on loading it with books.). What's going to be more tempting to steal: One book or an eReader loaded with several books, that will also allow you to get books for less?
This doesn't just speak for schools, either. I wouldn't want to wave my eReader around in public.
Let's say that books did all go to electronic format. Physical books are no longer made. You do realize that not everyone is going to be able to afford an eReader, correct? So what, these people just don't buy books anymore? Alright, then you lose profit. These people can't buy books, so you don't sell them books.
What about schools? Are schools going to have to buy eReaders for their classes just so they can read their textbooks? What if the school can't afford that? Do the kids just not get textbooks or novels?
Authors, how do you think that would affect you? It could go either way, you know. You could get lucky and then it would be easier for you to get published, because then it would all be on technology. Maybe it would be worse. Maybe then people wouldn't be able to access your book, because they don't own an eReader.
I personally don't think books will ever completely go to technology. It could be disastrous if they did. If the system crashed, then all books could be lost. If we lost the power to charge eReaders, then books would just have to go back to paper wouldn't they?
The only way I could understand books not being made any longer is if we had a shortage of trees. Even then, there's still recycled paper. Not to mention, if we have a shortage of trees, we're kind of going to have a shortage of air. As much as I love books, I think I'd be more worried about the air portion of the problem. No air, no life.
I've got other things to say here, but I don't want it to come off like I'm bashing on eReaders, so I'll shut up. Tell me, guys, what's your opinion on this?
5 comments:
I own an ereader, and I'm quite proud of it. I don't think the purpose of ereaders is to completely banish physical books from existing, but to make life easier for people that read a lot, both in personal as professional life.
If you are afraid of your ereader being stolen, do you ever take your cellphone with you? Aren't you afraid of that being stolen too? I wouldn't leave anything valuable behind, I would keep it with me.
For me an ereader is almost necessary. I can't get ARC's in normal book format from publishers, because shipping is insanely high to Europe. They will send me eARC's, making it possible for me to review books before they come out.
Another thing, is that ereaders aren't even that massively expensive. I believe almost every household owns a computer with internet connection. A personal computer is way more expensive than an ereader will ever be.
I don't think normal books will ever go away, but I do think that ebooks for average use will be more durable.
@Celine I'm not bashing on eReaders. In fact, I've been looking into buying one recently. I don't think eReaders were necessarily made to replace physical books. That's why I wrote this post. Because I don't think eReaders *could* replace physical books. I've heard people say that they would never buy an eReader because they would be helping remove physical books from the picture. I apologize if you, or anyone else, took this as an insult to eReaders. I was attempting to defend them here, by saying that eReaders aren't going to replace books, so calm down about it.
I do not normally bring things like cell phones with me. I do bring my Zune with me, but that's always on me and I'm not going to be apart from it. I, for that reason, don't worry about people stealing things from me. I have had things stolen from me before, though, so that is why I made that point.
I do realize eReaders are useful. Once again, I'm not bashing on them. I'm simply saying that they aren't going to replace physical books.
Yes, while eReaders aren't massively expensive, they are fairly more expensive than a physical book, obviously. Though, I suppose you could argue that they are an investment since eBooks are usually, at the most, 5 dollars.
I thank you for your input. And, once again, I apologize if this came off as me hating on eReaders. This was me actually defending them. As I said before, people have the idea that if they buy an eReader, they are helping to extinguish physical books. I don't agree with that.
--Brielle
I love having an e-reader, but I don't think real books will ever go away. You're right that e-readers will have negative consequences, like every new technology has on old technologies (e.g. why go to a movie theater when you have a Blueray at home?). But overall, I think it enables you to easily carry books around.
New follower btw.
Lol at your update/note. Okay, that makes sense. Because when we first read this, we were kind of stunned to see how strongly you were against ereaders! But now we understand, you're just trying to say that ereaders are not going to eliminate physical books. And we agree. We do think technology is bringing a lot of changes to the industry, and we don't know how they will shake out, but people love books too much to get rid of them forever. Heck, there are still records around! (Er, do people even know what records are anymore?!)
I SO agree with this! My dad is all freaked out at me wanting to be a Librarian because he seems to think Libraries will be obselete in a few years. I'm like seriously dad? That isn't gonna happen. My mom gave the example of the Library of Congress. Do you think that's going anywhere? That we're just going to upload everything into some digital format? Heck no! I mean what if it crashed or got erased? Yeah. Not happening. I love me some REAL books! :)
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--Brielle