搜索
E-booksorpaperbooksWhatisthee-book?Ane-bookisabookinelectronicformat.Itisdownloadedtoacomputer,PC,Mac,laptop,PDA,tablet,smartphoneoranyotherkindofreadingdevice,andisreadonthescreen.Itcanhavenumberedpages,tableofcontents,picturesandgraphics,exactlylikeaprintedbook.E-bookspresentmanybenefitsandadvantages.Itisverysimpleandeasytopurchaseanddownloade-booksthroughtheInternet.Afterdownloadyoudon'thavetobeconnectedtotheInternetinordertoreadthee-book.Youcanstayoffline.Ifyouwishtohaveitprinted,itisveryeasy-.Justclickontheprintbuttoninthee-book,toprintitwithyourhomeprinter.E-booksaredeliveredalmostinstantaneously.Youcanpurchase,downloadandstartreadingthemwithinminutes,withoutleavingyourchair.Youdon'thavetogotoabookstoretobuythem,neitherwaitforthemfordays,weeksandsometimesmoretoarriveinthemail.2.Notreesarerequiredtomanufacturepaperforthepagesofebooks.Whenyouneedcertaininformation,youcangetitimmediately,bydownloadingane-book.Manye-booksaresoldnowadayswithbonuses,whichyouusuallydonotgetwithaprintedbook.Thisaddsvaluetoyourpurchase.E-bookstakeuplessspace.Itisverysimpleandeasytopurchaseanddownloadane-book.Peoplelivinginbigmodernizedcities,inaremotevillageinafarawaycountryoronasmallisland,canequallyaccessane-book.Ittakesthemthesameamountoftimetopurchaseanddownloadane-book,providedtheyhaveanInternetconnection.Itispossibletopurchaseane-book24hoursaday,everydayoftheyear,fromthecomfortofyourownhouseoroffice.Youcanpurchaseanddownloadane-book,evenifyouareonavacation.Allyouneedisalaptop,tablet.Smartphone,orareadingdevice,andwirelessInternetconnection.Thee-bookhassomuchedvantage,theparperbookshaveahardtime.Halfadecadeintothee-bookrevolution,though,theprognosisfortraditionalbooksissuddenlylookingbrighter.Hardcoverbooksaredisplayingsurprisingresiliency.Thegrowthine-booksalesisslowingmarkedly.Andpurchasesofe-readersareactuallyshrinking,asconsumersoptinsteadformultipurposetablets.Itmaybethate-books,ratherthanreplacingprintedbooks,willultimatelyservearolemorelikethatofaudiobooks—acomplementtotraditionalreading,notasubstitute.HowattachedareAmericanstooldfashionedbooks?JustlookattheresultsofaPewResearchCentersurveyreleasedlastmonth.Thereportshowedthatthepercentageofadultswhohavereadane-bookrosemodestlyoverthepastyear,from16%to23%.Butitalsorevealedthatfully89%ofregularbookreaderssaidthattheyhadreadatleastoneprintedbookduringthepreceding12months.Only30%reportedreadingevenasinglee-bookinthepastyear.Booksarenotgoinganywhere.Neitherispublishing.SinceGutenbergmadehisepiccontributiontothehumanrace,publishinghassecuredaplaceasoneofthelargestandmostprofitableindustriesinhistory.Inthattime,publishinghasadaptedtomajortechnologicalchanges,survivedeconomicmeltdowns,persistedthroughpoliticalcensorship,andmadeittotheothersideofcatastrophicpricewars.It’sconveniencethatisdrawingpeopletoe-booksandthatiswhatwillkillprintedbooks.Or,ifnotkillthem,reducethemtothesameminorityhobbyiststatusthatvinylrecordsnowoccupy.Printedbookswillbestrangerelicsfromtheirparents’generation.Theymightappreciatetheirformbuttheywillapproachthemasfundamentallylessuseful.Andusefulalwayswinsintheend.Theroleoftheprintedbookisstillcritical,ifnotforthepublishingindustry,butforthehumanrace.Ourpermanentrecord,whetherthroughartisticexpressioninfiction,orthroughknowledgeinnon-fiction,iskeptonprintedbooks,notonelectronicsignals.Withouttheprintedbook,thereisnorecordofourtime,placeandcivilization.