"Ebook vs printed book, what's the difference and which one is better?" According to my years of experience with ebooks and printed, I attempted to figure out the main supporting reasons on both sides that one is better than the other. After reading this post, you will find the pros and cons of both ebooks and printed books. Maybe to some extent it can help you decide which one you should choose.
Part 1. 5 Reasons Why Ebooks Are Better than Printed Books
1. Pricing Considerations
Ebooks are usually less expensive than their paper counterparts, not speak of the thousands of discounted ebooks provided by the online eBooks stores and the free ebook download sites. You might be thinking that the eBook Reader like Kindle/Nook/ReMarkable is costly for you, but you ought to know that is a one-time-for-all investment. Moreover, there are many free eBook readers for Android/iOS that can be used to read eBooks on your smartphones.
If you read a lot, ebooks should be more cost-effective than printed books.
2. Convenience: Instant Access to thousands of books
In terms of availability and accessibility, ebooks are superior to paper books. The ebooks are digital content. Once you purchase one, you can download it and start to read it immediately, no need to wait for the delivery of the book.
With an eBook reader or a smartphone in hand, you carry thousands of books with you. Just imagine that you are planning for a tour and don't want to carry dozens of books in your luggage. The printed books can be much heavy, while the eBook reader can be even lighter than one print book.
3. Quick Navigation and Search
Content search is super easy with ebooks. You can perform a text search of every ebook in your library collections. Just type some certain words, the book will jump to the corresponding page which contain the searched words. This function is exclusive to the ebooks. You will never be able to have your printed book to automatically go to a certain page by just telling some few words. With a printed book, you need to find it by yourself, which would take a long time.
4. Listen to Books
Nowadays, audiobooks become a trend in the publishing industry. Many ebooks now come with their audiobook counterparts. And with the technology of Text to Speech, you can easily convert an ebook to an audiobook. When you obtain the audiobook, you can enjoy your favorite stories without putting your eyes on the ebook. Instead, you will be able to "listen" to books while driving, walking on the road, doing chores or anything else.
5. Highlighting & Bookmarking
Highlighting and bookmarking is really simple in an ebook. One finger is enough for all of this, no pen needed. You can quickly view and even export the notes. All the notes are accessible online in a place, in which you can review, download and save. You don't need to go through the whole book again. This could be very helpful and convenient for revision.
Part 2. 5 Reasons Why Printed Books Are Better than EBooks
1. The Feel of Paper
Traditional paper books are more tactile in nature. They feel entirely different from holding an eReader. The feel of turning pages and the smell of the papers are the factors that an eBook can never take place of a physical book.
2. Visual Benefits
Ebooks are more likely to cause eye-strain, especially when you read with smartphones, iPad tablets and computer screens. Some E-ink readers do have "no light" or "low light" screens. That' great. But to be honest, it's still uncomfortable to read in direct sunlight. After all, that does not cause a real problem with a paper book.
3. Focus
Ebooks are with all kinds of clickable links that would distract you in some way. If your goal is to learn, the traditional books are the best choice, since they are designed for "focus". You would never want something like a message suddenly pops up when you are immersing yourself in reading. Especially in the tablets and phones, there are so many apps for web surfing, social media or games that could break your concentration.
4. Book Sharing
You can share a printed book with a friend or family with ease. However, most of the purchased ebooks can only be used with only one account. It's not as easy to share an ebook as share a printed book. Printed books promote sharing. Just give it to your friend. But to share an ebook, you should give your account information to others to some extent. Or if not, it would be a little bit difficult.
5. Flexibility in Annotating
Annotating and making notes in a printed book is really easy, whereas it's very limited in an ebook, unless you have a paper tablet like ReMarkable Paper Tablet that supports writing and sketching, or you own an iPad, Apple Pencil and professional note-taking apps. Anyway, in a printed book you just need to use pencils or pens to make notes. It's rather simple to highlight, use symbols and making drawings.
Part 3. Bonus Tips: Turn EBooks into Printed Books
Ebooks are cheaper, while printed books have better reading experience. If you'd like to save money on paper books but still want to read with the paper books, the best solution is to convert the ebook to PDF with Epubor Ultimate and print the eBooks to paper books.
The Complete guide to printing ebooks are as follows:
How to Print Google Play Books.
How to Print Adobe Digital Editions Books.
Michelle loves technology & reading very much. She seeks the methods to enjoy eBooks and audiobooks more freely and wants to share everything new she has got with you.
the pros of books felt like a sense of nostalgia
the evolution of books from print to screen will not have as we are accustomed to read paper books changes are bad
you can type instead of writing
the eBooks are just in a preliminary stage so there no merit criticism and when u buy an ebook u only buy one so buy a good one like a kindle or books that have "no light" or "low light" screens.