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Friday, March 05, 2010 By Evan Steinberg
Advertising
As many of you know, new electronic books called e-books have hit the stores. The plastic electronic devils are creating changes in the literary world. While the layout is complicated, prices for the written works are the same. Many stores are disappearing as people purchase online books.
E-books, in general, can be hard to understand. The white screen and buttons are inconvenient. When you are using them, you cannot tell what page you are on or how far into the volume you are. Poor graphics cause you to miss out on some content. Reading on a screen does not have the same effect of a book. Print, font, and page graphics are all part of the author’s intent. Although they are delicate, the devices are already causing numerous amounts of damage.
Because of electronic books, stores selling written works are shutting down around the world. One of the first to go is our very own Walden Books that used to be in Fashion Square Mall. These bookstores should have no reason to shut down because people should be buying books not just to read, but to savor the atmosphere of them. Awkwardly holding an e-book doesn’t even compare to cozying up with a book by the fire. Even with a cover, e-books are very fragile. A print book is available to you at all times, while a kindle runs out of power. The only bookstores that will be leftover will be Barnes & Noble or Borders. Used or family-owned bookstores are going to become nonexistent.
Ebooks are not that much less expensive than print books. The difference in prices, at maximum, would be $3.00. If you buy a book on an ebook reading it on the evil device, after awhile, would be hard on the eyes. When buying and actual book, there is a cover image, summary, and note from the author. Not all of the extra features in a physical book are present in the electronic version. It is well worth a few additional dollars to get the whole deal. Schools would definitely be willing to pay the extra money.
Teachers appreciate physical books and textbooks more than e-books. Students can share books or trade them around when it is not possible to do that with an e-book. They limit communication between peers even more. School county systems are not going to want to buy e-books for every student. If a student loses or breaks an e-book, it would be difficult and more expensive to replace an electronic device rather than the actual volume.
The e-books, like the Kindle, will bring a downfall to most written works of art we know. Stores that one would necessarily frequent will disappear. The device could be hard to figure out preventing you from enjoying what the author created. Schools would not be happy spending so much money when it could go somewhere else. Next time you see an electronic book, I hope you will think about them differently.
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