I’ve watched the evolution of ebooks over the years–through advancements in devices. I’ve also watched long-time book geeks become ever-more enamored with digital books.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m still a book geek. I love technology, and much that it represents. But, I’m old-fashioned in that I cherish those earliest memories of picking a book off the shelf, lovingly carrying it home, and devouring it–page-by-page. The process of procuring an ebook is, well, different. It takes the personal love and attachment out of the book-ownership process. And, that’s something that I don’t think I will ever get back with any of my digital editions.
So, I have to admit… I didn’t eagerly accept ebooks (not at first), and I still love my collection of “real” books (I don’t think I will ever be able to easily give them up), but there are realities of time and space that I’ve been forced to accept.
So, here are just a few reasons why I’ve come to love digital books.
- Ebooks by the hundreds… thousands… millions. The only limitation is storage space, and that is easily solved (I can now buy terabytes-worth of hard-drive space for very reasonable rates, and devices now include more storage space).  I can also back all that data up on a regular basis–to protect my ever-growing digital library from many of the enemies that could destroy (or cause serious damage) to any “normal” library.
- Ebooks to carry anywhere! I remember the days when I’d torture myself trying to decide which book(s) to take with me–on a plane, for a car trip, for the trip to the doctor’s office, or for any of life’s other adventures. If I brought just one, I’d invariably have the desire to read the one I’d left behind.
- Ebooks are free. Yes, it’s true… Not ALLÂ ebooks are free, but I can quickly and easily access many examples of freebie books (from most genres, historical periods, and lengths). And, when there’s particular books that I want (my favorite authors, and new titles), I can find great deals (and sometimes free).
- Ebooks are searchable. I can search for words, names or phrases that I remember from the book, which makes the ebook a great resource to find and recite quotations (one of my favorite activities), as well as locate the EXACT phrases/paragraphs I need for an article or essay.
- Ebooks synch across platforms. Depending on where I am (or what I’m doing (whether I’m traveling, at home, hiking, or participating in some other activity), I’m able to get access to the ebook(s) I’m reading. But, the books also “synch” (so I usually don’t need to hunt for where I left off). I just pick up my phone, or laptop or other device and start reading–for whatever the length of time I have.
There are many more reasons that I love ebooks, and I’ll get to more of that in future articles… But, for now, I’ll leave you with this brief taste. And, I’d love to hear what you think.
If you love ebooks, what are some of your reasons?
If you  detest the very idea of digital books, why? Are you just too much in love with your brick-and-mortar library of favorite tomes?
I’m curious to hear more about your own personal evolution from volumes to etext, and what you’ve discovered along the way… We’ve ALL come a long way, haven’t we?
