| Electronic book readers are nothing new. | | | | Traditional Books Give a More Personal Experience. |
| Amazon’s Kindle reader is no exception. | | | | Ever tried taking notes on an ebook reader? |
| The Amazon Kindle – a software and hardware | | | | Impossible. For the reading enthusiasts out there who |
| platform that allows users to download and read | | | | never finish a book without a few margin-notes or |
| electronic books – was first released in November | | | | underlines or highlighting, the ebook will simply never |
| 2007. Whether the reader was before its time or the | | | | work. If you read an interesting point or want to |
| amount of downloadable books weren’t robust | | | | remember something for later, you must use a system |
| enough, the Kindle craze didn’t catch on until late | | | | of electronic methods to get this done. It’s so |
| 2009. | | | | much easier to just jot down a note in the margin than |
| In 2009, Amazon introduced the “Kindle for | | | | rely on another electronic method to keep notes. |
| iPhone” application, getting millions of iPhone users | | | | Audio Books Didn’t Kill the Traditional Book. |
| hooked on the idea of being able to read whatever | | | | When audio books first rose to popularity, the literary |
| they want whenever they want. Suddenly an | | | | community and those who loves books were up in |
| explosion was seen in the development and | | | | arms. They were convinced that people would rely |
| re-development of ebook readers from Sony and | | | | on their daily commutes to “read” their favorite |
| even Barnes and Noble. | | | | books. They thought the publishing and book selling |
| Literary purists generally look down on ebook readers | | | | industry would crash and books would be relegated to |
| for being impersonal and somewhat “cold”. | | | | something as boorish as being recorded on a cassette |
| They feel that the art and legacy of printed books will | | | | tape. That clearly didn’t happen. Audio books |
| be lost to a generation of tech-savvy readers and | | | | simply could not provide the personal touch that |
| eventually, authors will begin making their books | | | | traditional printed books do. |
| available online in lieu of selling through a publisher. But | | | | There are Two Distinct Markets for eBooks and |
| I am not so sure that ebook readers mean the death | | | | Traditional Books. |
| of traditional printed work, and here’s why. | | | | This is probably the most obvious point. Those |
| Printed Books Allow for More Personal Time. | | | | looking to use ebooks are using them very differently |
| In fact, researchers at Temple University and the | | | | than traditional books. Perhaps you can’t decide |
| Institute of Chicago have found that parents and | | | | between which titles you want with you on an airplane; |
| pre-school children share a more positive experience | | | | use an ebook reader, you can take a bunch and not |
| when reading traditional books together rather than | | | | crowd your carry-on luggage. But if you are looking |
| ebooks. Traditional, printed books allow for a faster | | | | to ease into a book with a cup of tea and a warm fire, |
| development in literacy skills and reading | | | | you probably won’t lunge for the ebook. Ebooks |
| comprehension. Also, those who read traditional | | | | will inevitably continue to rise in popularity, but they will |
| books generally take a more active role in reading, | | | | never replace traditional books, they will just augment |
| whereas those who read ebooks let the book guide | | | | their use. |
| them instead of using their own imagination. | | | | |