Which are the main differences between the e-book and the traditional book?

octubre 9th, 2009 · No hay Comentarios

As we all know nowadays readership is declining. So is not common to see people reading paper books or e-books. Altough in some years it will be very common that the little group of people that like reading will do it in an e-book because of the advantaged that this suposses: more confortable, cheaper…

Altough there´s a group of people that don’t agree with this kind of literature because they want to preserve the traditional book due to different reasons.

According to Wikipedia an e-book is known as a digital book, is an e-text that forms the digital media equivalent of a conventional printed book, sometimes protected with a digital rights management system. E-books are usually read on personal computers or smart phones, or on dedicated hardware devices known as e-Readers or e-book devices. Many mobile phones can also be used to read e-books.

Early e-books were generally written for specialty areas and a limited audience, meant to be read only by small and devoted interest groups. The scope of the subject matter of these e-books included technical manuals for hardware, manufacturing techniques, and other subjects.

FORMATS:

There are a variety of e-book formats used to create and publish e-books. A writer or publisher has many options when it comes to choosing a format for production. While the average end-user might arguably simply want to read books, every format has its proponents and champions, and debates over “which format is best” can become intense. The myriad of e-book formats is sometimes referred to as the “Tower of eBabel”. For the average end user to read a book, every format has its advantages and disadvantages.

ADVANTAGES:

An e-book can be purchased, downloaded and used immediately, whereas when one buys a book one has to go to a bookshop, or wait for a delivery.
There are over 2 million free books available for download as of August 2009.
Educational text books (e-textbooks) can be distributed at a lower cost than print versions per student.
Second generation e-books (and colour e-readers) have motion capability.
e-Books can be printed for less than the price of traditional new books using new on demand book printers.
Text can be searched automatically and cross-referenced using hyperlinks.
A single e-reader containing several books is easier to carry around (less weight and volume) than the same books (or sometimes even a single book) in printed form. Even hundreds or thousands of books may be stored on the same device. Using removable media even more can be carried around easily.
Also at a fixed place such as at home it can be an advantage that an e-book collection requires very little space.
Mobile availability of e-books may be provided for users with a mobile data connection, so that these e-books need not be carried around.
E-books can allow non-permanent highlighting and annotation.
Font size and font face can be adjusted.

DISADVANTAGES:

Reading e-books requires an electronic device and software. Even in the case of reading it on a personal computer one already has, it may require additional software.
A small book is easier to carry around than a typical e-book reader.
E-book readers require electrical power; in the case of mobile use, the battery can get exhausted.
E-book readers are more fragile than paper books and more susceptible to physical damage.
E-book readers can malfunction and e-books can be damaged due to faults in hardware or software.
E-book readers are more likely to be stolen than paper books.
Depending on the device an e-book may be difficult to read in bright sunlight.
Most publishers don’t produce the e-book equivalent of their printed books. In other cases the product quality is lower or it is released later.
E-books can be easily hacked through the use of hardware or software modifications and widely disseminated on the Internet and/or other e-book readers, without approval from the author or publisher. This ease of piracy is a significant drawback for publishers.

REFERENCES:

Libro electrónico. Wikipedia, La enciclopedia libre. Retrieved 9th October 2009 11:50. From: http://es.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Libro_electr%C3%B3nico&oldid=30293706.
Suit101. Colaboracion y contenidos de calidad. Javier Yohn Planells( 2009). Retrieved the 9th October 2009 11:51. From: http://gadgets.suite101.net/article.cfm/un_futuro_sin_papel