This has been a question since Amazon came out with the first Kindle. First, I will say that as an author, I will write and publish in both digital and print formats. That’s not what I’m talking about here, though.
I’m talking about what I — and you — prefer to read.
In case you don’t know, I’m legally blind. I have difficulty reading small print, to put it mildly.
I love the feel of physical books. The crispness of the pages. The smell of a new book. The slight resistance of the spine when you open a book for the first time.
You get the idea.
The problem is most books don’t have large print. The ones that do are huge and awkward to read.
I love ebooks. I especially love that I can have hundreds of books on a device in my hand or in my bag. I don’t have to decide which books to take with me on a trip.
I love that I can make the print as large as I need it so I can read comfortably. I also like the option (in many but not all) for it to read a book to me if I’m doing something else or don’t feel like actually reading it myself do some reason.
With print books, I like that I can highlight passages or make notes in the margins. That’s not as easy to do with ebooks.
Do I think ebooks will replace print books? No. I think there will always be a place for both. I don’t think ebooks will ever fully replace hard copies of books.
At least, I don’t think that will happen in my lifetime.
What do you think? Will ebooks replace print books? Which do you prefer?
That’s in interesting take on e-books, i never thought about it from this perspective. Thanks for sharing!