Home Random Page


CATEGORIES:

BiologyChemistryConstructionCultureEcologyEconomyElectronicsFinanceGeographyHistoryInformaticsLawMathematicsMechanicsMedicineOtherPedagogyPhilosophyPhysicsPolicyPsychologySociologySportTourism






E-books: pros and cons

Pros

Many of the advantages of e-books are inherent in the format of electronic devices and offer a level of features and flexibility that are impossible in printed books. The overall advantages include:

  • Method of publication. Once the electronic text is created, it has the potential for instant worldwide distribution over the Internet and access from virtually any location, without the dangers of damaging a printed copy. Also, it is very easy to integrate the available list of e-books into a library’s online catalog (Ballard, 2000), thereby offering a substitute for having to visit a library building.
  • Economic advantages. The overhead publication and distribution cost of e-books is considerably lower than using a printing mode (Hayes, 2000). Some costs are passed on to the book consumer, who must download or somehow obtain the document, but in most areas the corresponding expenses relating to printing materials are obsolete in the digital world. There is no cost for paper, ink, binding, wrapping, postage, or transport. In fact, hundreds of virtual books are free.
  • Increasing capabilities of hardware. A single e-book reader can hold more than one electronic text and the potential exists for portable readers to hold the entire libraries. The content of electronic documents can be expanded, customized or updated as users desire. Significant enhancements include: complete e-text searching (a navigation tool unmatched by traditional back-of-the-book indexing systems); an interactive dictionary with instant access to the definitions of highlighted words within the text; multimedia display capabilities, which are impossible on paper; and adjustable displays with variable font sizes and levels of backlighting. All these advantages are a reality in existing e-book products (DiNucci, 1999a), and have the potential to improve further with future technological advances.
  • Business applications. E-books can be used conveniently at a substantial cost savings. For instance, distribution of operating procedures to production workers the day they go into effect. The benefits lie in reduced paper costs of creating, copying and disposing of thousands of pages, and in moving distribution from costly courier service to instant downloads via the Internet.
  • Convenience. E-books are very convenient and are always in stock. With online books, no disappointment will occur due to a work being out-of-print, and there will be no wasted trips to libraries or bookstores, only to find the required book is loaned or sold. There are also no inventory storage worries, and no waiting forever to get materials.
  • Environment friendliness. Unlike conventional printed books, not a single tree must be cut to produce an e-book. When downloading an electronic novel, online fiction, digital textbook or any other kind of virtual book, not even a single sheet of paper enters the waste stream.
  • Ability to improve literacy and education in less developed countries. People in poor countries may not be able to afford to buy books and rarely have access to libraries. But in a few years, as the cost of hardware continues to decline, it will be possible to set up virtual public libraries.
  • Raise national literacy and educational standards. E-books can be used to raise national literacy standards and to aid publishers and authors along the way. A national library online could do this by offering a list of free downloadable readings and videos. Classical and other special titles could be bought from publishers at a fair price before distribution. Collectively, all of these costs would be far less than currently payable library services, and yet the potential would be far larger.

These utility advantages include:



  • For authors: increased readership, a reasonable monetary return for their work and continuing ability to control the rights to their works.
  • For publishers: less expensive paperless mass production, the potential end to out-of-print problems, and easy distribution via online distributors, direct marketing to customers, or affiliate program.
  • For customers: dictionary software to look up words, an audio mode to have an e-book read out loud, search tools to find specific texts, multiple books in one small package, to links between e-books, customization to suit individual interests and tastes, easily updated reference material, audio and full motion video content, out-of-print books, low light reading, a choice of font sizes, and portability for one’s own virtual library.
  • For libraries: the instant delivery of purchased books, adjustable fonts instead of large print books, lower prices due to lower production costs, eco-friendliness, shelf space savings, an end to lost or damaged titles, and the ability to create their own texts.
  • For entertainment: multimedia capabilities and rich color photographs.

Cons

The cons for e-books can be traced to one of the two causes:

  1. (1) the shortcomings of current e-book technology and its derivatives, including costs; and
  2. (2) the incongruence with current user expectations about how books are handled.

Some of the problems with reading e-books on dedicated machines or software are:

  • Durability. The current generation of hardware is too fragile to be used in the same manner as printed books (Sottong, 1999).
  • Expense. The dedicated readers are expensive, at present.
  • Technological change. There is a risk of buying a soon-to-be-defunct reader.
  • Screen resolutions. The typical screen resolutions on handhelds and PCs probably are not good enough for extended screen reading and do not yet match the quality of printed books.
  • Limited availability of titles. The availability of titles in electronic form is very limited, at the moment.
  • Availability. The dedicated readers are not widely available throughout the world.
  • Compatibility. The problem of compatibility is due to lack of standard formats across different hardware and software and vendors. A title purchased for one dedicated reader will not be able to read on a PC.
  • Bibliographic data. The available e-book titles rarely have sufficient bibliographic data, which is a problem for libraries. Cataloging titles raises all the cataloging problems of parallel publication of e-journals.
  • Licensing. Most vendors of e-books do not seem to understand library needs, or have suitable licenses.
  • Printing. The users may not be able to print from their readers.
  • Limited rights. The rights of resale are different from when a book is purchased. These are familiar issues that have arisen from e-journals, e.g. licensing versus sales.

The issues for the new wave of large-scale e-book distributors are somewhat different. They need to:

  • find a business model that works and that users find acceptable;
  • reassure publishers about their intellectual property rights by providing a very controlled user interface, without making it too cumbersome and unwieldy for users (electronic copyright management systems have found that if the environment is tortuous, users simply do not use the system, but this might not be repeated if the content is sufficiently massive);
  • have reliable and speedy access;
  • have the right books; and
  • persuade academics to recommend using such a service to their students.

As the e-book technology improves, so will its ease of use. A new generation of e-book hardware offers reduced screen glare, improved fonts and layout, along with the flexibility of instant access to personalized and customizable e-books (DiNucci, 1999b). As e-book technology develops, systems will need to be established to preserve older e-book formats.


Date: 2014-12-22; view: 1333


<== previous page | next page ==>
Emergence of e-books | Impact of e-books
doclecture.net - lectures - 2014-2024 year. Copyright infringement or personal data (0.007 sec.)