Are EBooks Taking Over Paper Books?

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Irene_Lizarraga]Irene Lizarraga
The demise of paper books at the hands of their more modern digital counterparts have been announced as a done fact for years, but fact is, people still buy paperbacks and enjoy the feeling of picking a real book from the shelves of a bookstore. Are eBooks taking over paper books? Not really, but they are without a doubt giving them a run for their money.
Convenience
eBooks are clearly much more convenient than their heavy paper counterparts, as you can store thousands of digital editions on a palm sized eBook reader. However, paper books are still better in terms of surviving a sunny holiday on the beach, sharing their space with sand covered items and surviving the occasional glass of water falling on them. Lovingly wrapping a digital eBook as a gift is considerably more difficult than with a paper edition, which may be why paperbacks are still a favourite gift whereas digital editions seem to be more of a personal purchase. In terms of convenience, eBooks allow you to carry much more information on less weight, but they don't seem to be taking over paper books completely yet.
Green Concerns
If you are worried about the environment you'll probably be very aware of the fact that tons and tons of paper are burnt each year as publishers and editorials need to free up space on their warehouses.  Digital eBooks are as green as you get, no trees need to suffer to create a digital edition of your favourite bestseller. However, you need to take into account the fact that the electronics used to create some eBook readers aren't so kind to the environment, and it's important to dispose of old equipment through suitable channels and not on your trash bin.
Revised Editions
One of the best things of eBooks is that they can be updated much quicker than paperbacks. This means if there's a typo, or new information makes the book incorrect the author can just modify the file and redistribute it. With a printed book that is often not possible or at least very difficult, and you'd need to buy the revised edition again. If you are into professional or technical literature you may find eBooks are actually taking over print books quite quickly.
Price
Price is a field where eBooks can really give traditional hardcovers a beating, as the cost of creating and distributing an eBook is much smaller than print. However, it's a pity that no more publishers pass on the savings to the consumers, sometimes fearing that people will opt for the digital edition and harm the sales of the hardcover version. Despite this, there are many free eBooks available either through online stores or downloads from the Internet, which makes having a library of eBooks much cheaper than actually filling your shelves with paper editions.
You can get free eBooks bundled with your preferred [http://androidereader.org/]Android eReader, from works that are out of copyright to information products designed to be distributed for free. This may be, in the end, what gives eBooks the ultimate advantage over traditional books that cannot be produced at such low costs as to giving them away for free.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Are-EBooks-Taking-Over-Paper-Books?&id=6724588] Are EBooks Taking Over Paper Books?