A Greater Deal: Printed Materials Versus Online Publication

By: Camille T. Camacho

Finance Staff - SDO Balanga City (Budget Unit)

Date posted: Nov. 16, 2018

In the digital world today, there is a swift transformation when it comes to reading habits, accessing resources, and finding material references. Students today are considered as digital natives, they can freely access countless resources from lectures to assignments electronically.

Even though, there is a massive difference between reading print books today and reading online books. In earlier times, we could easily find a person reading a book while travelling in a bus or while in the park. However, now we find people drowned into their computer, tablet and Smartphone to read the same books. As a result, the obvious question arises, which one is the best?

Looking at the latest advancement in technology, eBooks (Electronic Books) are easier to carry. Since all you need to have is a smartphone or a tablet, it can easily slip into your pocket. You don’t need to carry them in your hands often unlike printed books. The next advantage is that you can store several eBooks in your device. Moreover, if you are connected to the Internet then you can access various novels according to your desire. But, on the other hand, it is really difficult to carry even 10 printed books.

Although, we need to take into consideration the number one disadvantage of an eBook which is piracy, it is a concern for both publishers and authors. While traditional books can be copied with machines, the time and cost of doing so typically keeps this type of piracy at bay. With eBooks however, “sharing” books that have not been purchased with others is as easy as posting a file online or, in some cases, copying and pasting the text from one document to another.

Now, let us talk about the printed books. A book doesn’t really need any introduction. They are considered as a book worms’ best friend. They never complain and never demand, still they help you in a range of ways.

First of all you can be confident that the information that you are getting are all factual. It is written by a licensed writer and contains different sources. In addition, the only thing you need in reading this material is the book itself, since it doesn’t require you to charge the battery of your device so you can start gaining the information and digging its value.

In contrast, when you read a print book at night , you have to find a corner with proper lighting since you can’t be able to read it in the absence of the light also, printed books can take up a lot of space in your home.

To sum it all up, printed materials and eBooks have their respective advantages and disadvantages. In the end, the reader will still be the one to choose and to decide his preferred type of books, be it traditionally or by savoring the technological advancement we have today.