Team e-book or physical book? Ah, yes, a debate that’s gone on for quite a few years, but is slowly dying as less people are reading these days in the age of technology. I have always been on team physical book, but I recently realized that having physical copies of books is really not beneficial for me anymore. Here are 6 reasons why I’m now #TeamEBooks.
- Physical Books are More Expensive
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I know this will make me sound a bit spoiled, but I hate used copies of books. It’s one of my worst pet peeves and it started back in first grade when I found jelly smothered all over one of the pages in one of the library books I checked out. That’s why I don’t check physical books out of the library anymore and instead just buy them in stores. E-books are much cheaper though. Take a look at one of my recent favorites, Daisy Jones and the Six, for example. The E-Book is cheaper.
I recently discovered the Libby app which connects to your library card. Through the app, you can check out audiobooks and E-Books completely free. How amazing is that? If you have a Kindle, you can also send your books to it instead of reading off your phone which is cool. Plus, why pay for an Audible subscription when you can just use Libby for audiobooks?
- Physical Books Take Up Space
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Don’t get me wrong, I love displaying my books, but often times I will only read a book once and never touch it again, leaving the book to collect dust on my bookshelf until I eventually donate it which is money down the drain. Then when I eventually move, packing up all my books will be a pain. With E-Books however, all of the books are of access to me in one simple touch.
- Physical Books Can Be A Hassle to Carry Around
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The worst thing to happen is for a book cover to get all bent up in my bag. I like my books in pristine condition. Some books are also heavy and thick such as the last four books of the Harry Potter series. With E-Books you completely avoid this problem as they all exist within your device.
- Physical Books Kill Trees
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Printing books obviously requires paper, and paper in turn requires killing trees. In a time when it’s important to help the environment and save our resources, I think that moving toward electronic versions of texts is better.
- E-Books Allow You to Change the Layout
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By using E-Books, you are able to change the size of the font of the texts, something you can’t do with a physical book unless they print a large font version of the book which is rare.
- The Ability to Search Within the Text of an E-Book
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Being able to search for a particular scene, words or times when a character’s name is mentioned is incredibly helpful, especially when it comes to books your reading for class. This is much harder through reading a physical book unless you tab your books while you’re reading.
Yes, there are things that I’ll miss about having a physical copy of a book such as the smell and texture of the pages but as I’ve realized, E-Books are much more convenient for me now as a college student always on the go.