The rise of science and technology has given rise to several discoveries, creations, and inventions. Everything is at our fingertips in this digital age. From booking tickets to ordering food, everything can be done by merely tapping on the smartphone screen. The digital age has also transformed the way we read and purchase books. The popularity of ebooks, especially amongst the millennials, is slowly rising.
In 2020, nearly 191 million ebooks were sold in the United States.
In the e-book category, the number of readers is expected to touch 133.3 million by 2027.
Ebooks have gained massive popularity in recent years. With the increase in demand for ebooks, more and more people can be seen switching over from the traditional hardcopies of books to ebooks.
An e-book is a book that is published in digital format. It consists of text and sometimes pictures and illustrations that are easily readable on the screens of laptops, computers, tablets, and smartphones.
Ebooks are frequently described as electronic copies of physical books.However, some ebooks exist without any print equivalent.
Most of the earlier generation of readers grew up struggling to read the physical copies of books in dim light or in the dark. We can read after the lights are turned off, even in the dark, on our Kindles, iPads, tablets, laptops, smartphones, and other amazing electronic devices.Audiobooks are a step beyond ebooks where we can literally ‘read’ with our eyes closed.
Everything has become digitized in the digital age, which is quite fast-paced compared to where we were about a decade or two ago. Even when you visit some popular food joints, you will get the invoice directly on your smartphone or email. Similarly, physical books are making way for ebooks.
Convenience is the most important reason why ebooks have become the reading brain in the digital world. Not just this, but ebooks are more environmentally friendly as they save paper and ink.
Compared to physical books, ebooks are cheaper since there is no printing and binding cost involved.
The electronic versions of books are portable and occupy less space compared to the physical books. Undoubtedly, it is much easier and more convenient to download your favorite book on a laptop or tablet than it is to physically go to a bookstore and find one. With the power of technology, you can refine your search or shop by the genre of books that you are interested in, making it simpler for you to find the book that you are looking for.
By using ebooks, you can search for a keyword or line quickly by just pressing Control + F and the results will be visible in front of you. Searching for words or a passage with ebooks rather than using the index of a physical book is much more convenient.
If you are a student, ebooks are a great blessing for you in the digital age. You no longer need to carry those heavy textbooks or reference books to schools or colleges. All subjects' ebooks can be carried in your pocket, on your smartphone, or on your laptop.
Enthusiastic readers can read novels or books in digitized format whenever they are traveling. They don’t need to carry physical copies of books, which makes things quite convenient.
Just like ebooks, audiobooks are getting popular as well, since they bring the characters in a story or novel to life.
A decade down the line, very few people would have imagined that people would be reading books on their mobile phones. A lot has changed in the digital world that we live in, including books.
The act of reading on digital devices like a tablet or Kindle – holding the devices in our hands, turning pages using our fingers – carries a resemblance to the physical copy of a book. However, this does take away from us the pleasure of physically interacting with the book, moving our fingers through the typed text, connecting with the words, and experiencing it as if it were happening with us.
With the presence of a screen, touchpad, and/or keyboard on ebook readers, the distance between the book and a human being has increased, while the connectivity has reduced.
The digital screen provides us with just one reading frame. Only the page that is being read is displayed on the screen, unlike the physical book that gives us a true reading experience, to see how many pages have already been ready, and how much is still remaining.
The digital reading experience is amazing, but reading a physical copy of a book has an aura and magic about it that is unmatched. The musty smell of hardcopies of books and the flexibility to mark words, underline lines, scribble, make notes, everything is missing with ebooks.
A place on the shelf for both ebooks and digital books
Even though ebooks are getting popular with Gen Z and millennials, it is quite unlikely that physical books will be replaced completely. There will be a place for both ebooks and physical books in the digital age going forward. Both mediums have their own pros and cons. Readers will be able to make their own choices depending on their personal circumstances. Indeed, ebooks are the reading brain in the digital world, but physical books are here to stay as well.