lip lit: ebooks, the debate
We recently had a contributor pitch us piece on how she thought eBooks and eReaders (ie Kindle) receive so much unnecessary flack. While we thought this was brilliant, we also thought it would be interesting to present both sides of the argument. Should we embrace eBooks as a new way of reading? Or are we right to be apprehensive?
For eBooks: Raelke Grimmer
I sat quietly in my tute as the debate wore on and the voices got louder and louder. Clearly, raising the issue of eBooks in a roomful of English Literature majors is a great way to cause an uprising. Fear creeps through the room, bouncing from shoulder to shoulder, as each student protectively clutches their well-worn copies of Hamlet. ‘eBooks will NEVER replace the printed word!’ Students cry out in alarm, trying to believe what they’re saying. I refuse to partake. I think eBooks are a good thing, and welcome them with open arms. I do not think eBooks will replace the printed book. Did television cause the death of the radio? Videos the death of the cinema? No. I agree there is nothing like holding a dog-eared book in my hand, or breaking open the pages of an undiscovered gem. However, there are a number of advantages of having books in digital form.
For starters, it always had to happen. Books need to compete with technology. They need to move into the digital age, or risk being left behind. The works can now be preserved in digital form, and complement technologies such as iPads and smartphones, instead of competing with them.
Another bonus is that most eReaders come with one hundred free eBooks preloaded onto the device. These books are public domain books; books which are considered classics. In a nutshell, all the books you “should” read. There is no longer any excuse not to read these books. They’re sitting there, waiting patiently for you. Another positive I wish to point out, and something which is a common misconception about eReaders, is that eReaders are not simply small computer screens which show text and are therefore bad for the eyes. eReaders have technology called e-ink, which renders the screen to read like a page in a book; there is not backlight and no glare from the screen.
The biggest drawcard of eReaders and eBooks for me is that they are perfect for travelling with. It is possible to carry a whole library of books for the weight of only one book. I always had trouble deciding which book to take with me on a trip- how would I know what I felt like reading at the time? I no longer need to guess at what sort of book my mind will feel like consuming.
The most important thing to remember about eBooks is that the crux of the book, the words the writer has painstakingly crafted together, are exactly the same as they are in a physical book. I read Tess of the D’urbervilles on my eReader for uni last year, and I absolutely loved it. Reading on my eReader did not hamper my experience of the novel. If anything, only having the text to concentrate on made me engage with the words even more. Sure, eBooks will never smell like the real thing (unless you have an aptly fresh leather case for your eReader) but to be perfectly honest, I’m more concerned with the mechanics of the story rather than how the object smells.
Finally, eBooks create more opportunities for emerging writers. It is becoming harder to get published these days, and eBooks offer new platforms for emerging writers to get their work out there in a number of different ways; from self-publishing through platforms such as Amazon Kindle, to the number of new ebook-only publishers emerging. These platforms have the ability to draw traditional publishers’ attention to a new author’s work. Let me leave you with one name: Amanda Hocking. (If this name means nothing to you, I suggest you google her immediately.
I don’t like ebooks.
I don’t know why this is exactly, but it has something to do with the fact that, to the dismay of Cartesian dualism, we are bound by the physical world. Our life exists in a body, our life manifests itself not virtually in thoughts, nor in abstracted computer codes. We know things because we experience a physical reality, not a virtual one.
Books are part of this. Reading is an intellectual pursuit, but also a physical one. The book is a tangible commitment to a journey. A bookmark is a sign of progress in the pilgrimage. It places you in the book, it also places you in your life – it’s an indicator of unfinished business, a mission. After that, a book is passed around physically, talked about, marked and dog-eared. Books sit on your bookshelf as an expression of your intellectual history and goals. In a digital form, it seems reductive, hidden, less grand. The materiality of books is an important part of the reader’s life (and their social life). An eBook simply doesn’t cut it.
But there are also less existential reasons why books are better.
1. Books are actually better for the environment. Even if you happen to get your books shipped to you internationally to pick up on good prices. eBooks are manufactured with 33 pounds of minerals, plus 79 gallons of water (sorry about the Imperial units of measurement – my source is American). It uses energy through batteries and they are not easy to recycle. They’re out-of-date within a year or two. A book, on the other hand, either uses recycled paper or paper sourced from forests that are regenerated. It will take two gallons of water and it won’t have any minerals sourced from Middle Earth, or a battery. If the book is good, they can easily be passed from person to person. If not, they can be used for joke gifts or art and craft projects.
2. You need to give details to an evil company to buy an eBook. A great deal of recent technological developments have come at a cost to privacy. Personally, I’m a bit weirded out by the fact that when I browse Amazon, they generate for me a list of suggestions based on my odd habits. It’s worse if you actually buy something from them (including eBooks), they pressure you to write reviews, and they store your data. Luckily, I like real books so I can opt out of the whole using-my-data-to-make-me-buy-
3. At least I own books. They may be a bit more expensive than ebooks, but when I buy it, it’s mine. I can do what I want with it. I can lend it to my friends, I can purposefully leave it on a bus for the next person to come along, I can donate it to goodwill, I can use it for my next art project,I can interpret its contents whichever way I please. According to Amazon, the people who buy an ebook may not necessarily even own it. Not only did they give away their identity, tastes, and other personal information, they’re doing so only for a restricted licence! This means you can’t legally share it with others and Amazon (henceforth to be referred to as ‘The Ministry of Truth’) can revoke your copy at any time. There is less of a sense that a book is yours and that a book can have a history, passing many hands, with a social life of its own.
4. You should be paying more than 99 cents for someone’s intellectual property. I guess the real downside of cheap ebooks is that the author is not getting paid very much in royalties. They don’t ordinarily get paid very much anyway, but the going rate (in Australia at least) is 10 per cent of the retail price. An author will receive a higher percentage if there are minimal overheads (as is the case with ebooks), but even if they got 100% royalties, and even if more people buy copies (because they can’t be shared), that’s still not a lot of money. This is something that the budding writers reading this should think about before they encourage the ebook reader over the humble real book.
Of course eBooks have their place, but they are overly commercial, out of your possession, and exploitative (to authors, customers, and the environment). And they’re just not the same.
I always thought I would never buy an e-reader. I too love the feel (and weirdly the smell) of regular books. However, my sisters bought me a Kindle for my birthday and I have to admit I am now slightly addicted. The convenience of being able to download whatever book I want directly to my Kindle is great. Not to mention being able to browse through the store for similar books based on reviews etc.
However the greatest seller for me was the price. I am able to purchase current best sellers for around $7.00 – something a second hand book store cannot compete with.
I don’t think I will give up physical books completely and still love venturing into a bookstore and browsing for hours. However it is nice to have the option.
My personal opinion is that as long as people are reading, I don’t care what format they choose to do it on. Or what they’re reading. Just read!
I think the best part of Erin’s argument is: “And they’re just not the same.” While I’ll admit to being a fence sitter on the whole eBook/real book thing, I’m inclined to agree with her.
The beauty of ebooks is that they’re not a new form of media, just a more efficient way of storing it. They can be accessed from anywhere with wireless internet access, and don’t consume a significant amount of physical space (you can store millions of books in the space that one would normally take up).
There are arguments against it regarding strain on the eyes etc. but e-ink solves that problem. Besides, reading anything; book or ebook is bad for your eyesight, exacerbating myopic vision.
The argument that a physical book is tangible whereas an ebook is not is completely invalid. All forms of literature are a storage of information in a code, whether its printed on a page or on a screen is irrelevant to the value that information has.
Its clear to me that the majority of people who dislike e-books do so out of illogical nostalgia. In saying that, I don’t mean to belittle their stance, only to say that they only prefer books because they’re used to them, which is a reasonable conclusion for an individual to reach. For someone who has not been brought up with printed books, they would almost certainly appear archaic, and without advantage.
I personally prefer reading out of books for that very reason – I’m used to the smell, the texture and the turn of the page, but I recognise this is out of habitual exposure to these stimuli and nothing else. Ebooks are easier to hold, easier to turn the page of, easier to store and above all, easier to acquire. As such, I do most of my reading these days on an android tablet (which is also capable of immeasurable other functions, multiplying the storage efficiency again).
I predict that in 20 to 30 years, printed books will have little more than historical value.
Pingback: literature and technology: the library of the future