While superficial, the fight between physical books and their digital counterparts creates real debate in the book world, and I entertain my own uphill battle with the latter.
I’ve been aware of my slight aversion towards eBooks for a long time. The first e-reader I ever received was a Kindle, one I inherited from my older sister when she bought herself a new one. At that time, I was obsessed. It was during a period as a teenager when I would read any book I could get my hands on and thanks to the Kindle store, I could get hundreds of Classics for free. However, the initial obsession with my new Kindle quickly dissipated as I realised that whilst it was a useful gadget, I did not appreciate the reading experience it offered. It was nice to hold something slim and lightweight to read a book that might have otherwise caused a strain on my weak wrists, or be able to travel with a whole library, but as I mentioned in my previous post, I have been in a rather serious love affair with collecting print books.
This was not the only reason I didn’t take to eBooks. When studying books, I like to be able to make notes and include tabs on pages I might return to. The act of physically reading a book comes with some kind of motor memory of where, in terms of the pages, an event occurs, and that had always helped me with being able to go back and reference specific parts of a book. That experience was just impossible to replicate with an eBook. Highlighting and making notes on the Kindle can be tediously slow and often time constraints would prevent it from being an efficient method of study.
On top of that, Kindle books can sometimes be more expensive than print books which put me off from buying them, mainly because I did not understand why. How could something that did not require physical delivery cost more than something that could? Upon further research, I discovered that eBooks are often more expensive due to:
- Something called the agency model, whereby the retailer does not choose the price of an item being sold, the agency or publisher does. The publisher will usually get seventy per cent of sales and the retailer the remaining thirty per cent.
- The price of physical books being exempt from VAT whilst eBooks are subject to this tax because they are digital content.
Now, with my second Kindle (also from my sister), my phone, and tablet all being capable of offering eBooks at a reasonable price, I’m determined to grow up, get over my unhealthy obsession with physical books, and use them. Having easy access, however, is not the only reason I want to get more use out of eBook services.
Why I want to read more eBooks:
- Convenience – eBooks are instantaneous in their delivery. There is no visit to a book shop or wait for it to arrive in the post. If I want to read something new today, I can. I’ve said it already but owning something and rarely ever using it is beyond wasteful and owning an e-reader adds to the convenience of eBooks for me.
- Technological advantages – paper books do not come with built in comprehensive dictionaries, but e-readers often do. This eliminates having to reach for my phone if I come across a new word. They also adjust to your reading speed and give you an estimate of how much time you might take to finish a chapter or book.
- Pricing – nowadays, the prices of eBooks are often lower than print books, which completely eradicates my earlier dissatisfaction with their price. This will allow me to spend less and have even less to complain about as I treat my book buying problem.
- Space. I repeat: SPACE! – contrary to what my delusional mind must believe, I do not live in a library capable of holding thousands of books. I’m only going to read more and the more I read physical books, the less floor I’ll have to navigate. There really is something to be said at having the possibility of carrying around an endless number of books all in one place.
The only issue to grapple with in terms of eBooks is the fact that e-readers are far more detrimental to the environment than physical books in terms of the resources needed to make them, store them in servers and their shelf-lives. It’s easy to assume that print books lack an eco-friendly aspect, however, with most books made from recycled paper, producing them uses less new resources than e-readers.
To do my best to help the environment after discovering the negative effects e-readers can have, I will use the Kindle I have until it no longer works, rather than upgrading to a newer model for no reason. The only truly environmentally friendly methods of reading are buying used books and borrowing from friends and family or a library, but of course then comes the problem that your local library may not have what you are looking for. I have not yet reached the point where I feel comfortable only using libraries for books but finding new, better ways to read obviously interests me as I get older.
My main issue and the reason I have probably struggled to enjoy eBooks in the first place, is that I do not usually like change. Routine is golden to me. I’m used to the way I consume literature physically and will probably struggle to adapt to doing it virtually even though it is hardly a life-changing endeavour. Trying something new, even on the small scale of reading, will probably be good for me.
If you want to find out how I get on with this new quest, keep an eye on my Instagram, as I’m sure to post updates there!
Read 'N Riot 