Books vs. e-books – the big debate. Both have their own uniqueness and some prefer e-books over regular books just for the cost, but here is a compiled list of pros and cons for both media.
Books
Pros:
The physical book itself is a pro. The smell of the pages is enough to make me excited about buying a new book.
They are easier to highlight or take notes in. I’ve had experience with a Kindle before, and I don’t really enjoy not being able to see my notes instantly on the page. The highlights, also, weren’t really bright highlights. They were dotted lines.
I like to be able to physically see the worth of the book I’ve read. I want to SEE all 300 to 500 pages I’m about to read, however daunting.
Daniel Throckmorton, a senior history major from Enterprise, said, “Books have a character all their own, and there’s just a feel to it that can’t be replicated with electronic readers.”
Cons:
Books can get heavy and hard to carry. Textbooks are a perfect example of this. And any Lord of the Rings, Wheel of Time or Game of Thrones epic.
They’re expensive. I’m sick of paying over 100 dollars for a large stack of paper. A lot of college students are.
They can get ruined pretty easily. Pages are fragile.
e-books
Pros:
They are notorious for being much cheaper than actual books, and with good reason.
They weigh absolutely nothing! Unless you’re counting the weight of the tablet, which is maybe a pound or so.
You can take them anywhere! Very easily, as well.
“You can sit in one place, and change your mind 50 times about what you want to read and you never have to get up!” said Ashley Nelms, a freshman biology major from Hayden.
Cons:
You can charge a tablet, but books, they last forever. Unless you tear them apart.
Libraries and bookstores would go out of business. I don’t know about you, but I like having a quiet place to think and read.
“If all technology gets wiped out, we lose everything, heritage, language and even the classics. If we completely started to depend on e-books, we would lose all of that if something bad were to happen,” Nelms said.
