Digital vs



WWB: Digital vs. Paperback Books

By Adrian Hernandez

E-book sales have been steadily rising in recent years, and E-books themselves are slowly becoming the preferred way to read books.

According to , the sale of E-books is up 200% since last year. This far outshines the sale of print books, which went up a measly 40%.

While a Kindle may cost $189, by the time 15 e-books have been downloaded (instead of buying their paperback counterparts) the price has already been made up. This also extends to the Nook, which takes 12 E-books to make up its price, and the iPad, which takes 39 E-books.

While Americans have historically shied away from new technologies, the number of people who have bought an E-book is rising. As many as 60% of Americans have purchased E-books along with tradition print, and a steady 6% only purchase E-books.

Recently, Brown University recorded book purchases in their local library and online library service during a 3 month period. Studies showed that students, staff, and faculty all preferred the E-book format, and E-books were more requested than traditional textbooks.

The average E-book costs 50 cents to make, as opposed to the average $4.05 it takes to produce hardcover and paperback, and E-book readers themselves weigh as much as 20 ounces less than hardcover books, making them more portable.

With all of these supposed advantages to the format, one has to wonder: Why would anyone prefer print to E-books? There exist a few explanations:

1.) By the costs versus benefits principle of economics, having a print copy of a book might prove to be more useful than an E-book copy. Print copies are easier to annotate, not restricted to a battery, and easier to lend to co-workers and friends. These simple benefits to owning a physical copy of a book matter to many consumers, and while E-books have tried to replace these conveniences, no E-book reader allows file sharing, as it would cost producers money.

2.) By the trade makes people better off principle, someone might prefer paperback or hardback books for the simple virtue that they can be easily sold for profit. More than 80% of Americans admit to reading books only once, and by that token, books become easily disposable after they have fulfilled their function.

3.) Perhaps most important, the future consequences count principle makes books more preferred to E-books. What if an E-book reader is stolen, or an account is hacked and every E-book is deleted? The convenience of a digital library doesn’t outweigh the disadvantage of it only existing in cyberspace. All it would take is one error to erase an entire collection permanently and the cost of re-purchasing all those books would be a great stain on a consumer.

While print books have their distinct advantages, E-books are fast becoming the preferred way to read. They are cheaper, more environmentally friendly, and make practically pay for themselves in the long-run.

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