There is nothing better than folding back the cover of a novel for the first time, breathing in the smell of fresh pages and ink. Nothing worse than forcing open the pages of a textbook knowing the information inside needs to, somehow, be transported into your brain (preferably before the exam). Books are more than the information written inside; they are physical objects to look at and hold as the text engages with the reader, or in the case of textbooks, doesn’t. Now, technology has, once again, changed the way people think about books and reading, with the phenomenon called the e-reader.
E-readers are a device on which people can read digitalised books. No paper, no ink, no hardcover or precious bookshelf space wasted. The crux of the book, the text, is still there, waiting to be consumed. There are several advantages which come with the digitalisation of books, particularly for uni students, but all these advantages come at a loss.
The first advantage is that, particularly for English Literature students, where two English topics a semester can amount to at least ten novels, it substantially cuts down the cost of buying the set books. E-books tend to be cheaper than paper books, as you are only buying the text and not a physical object. Even so, with online bookstores such as Amazon and The Book Depository, the cost difference between e-books and paper can be non-existence, so if cost is your reason for buying an e-reader it is important to shop around and not assume that e-books are cheaper.
Is a trip to the library so bad?
Another great thing about e-books is that it is possible to store thousands of books on a device that fits into the palm of your hand. It is no longer necessary to lug a bag full of books through the unreliable transport system to uni, drag the books through uni where you’re supposed to have the books in the appropriate tutes but they hardly get a second glance, and stumble home with them again. Some people make the argument that there is no need to carry hundreds of books at once when people can only read one book at a time, but there are people who have more than one book on the go. And, it solves the problem of trying to cram two novels into your bag for a bus trip because the first novel only has a chapter remaining and you want to finish it and not be bored for the rest of the trip.
However, the one downfall I have found with e-books is trying to search through them quickly to find quotes from a novel when writing an essay. It is much more efficient to flip through a paper book to locate a quote than press through the different chapter pages on an e-reader. I recently wrote an essay for an English topic on classic novels, and three of the novels for that topic came free with my e-reader. While I read the books on my e-reader, I borrowed paper versions of the books from the library to use while I wrote my essay. Maybe I’ll get used to clicking through my e-reader for quotes one day, but for now, I still rely on paper editions.
E-readers are slowly starting to make an impact at uni, and this year Adelaide Uni decided to trial the new technology. All 700 students who accepted a spot in an undergraduate Science program at the university received a free iPad to assist with their studies. The purpose was so they could download their textbooks and study notes straight to the device, saving them from the cost and weight of heavy textbooks. It makes the accessibility of study materials much more convenient.
There is no doubt that e-books are starting to be genuinely competitive against paper books. The cost, availability and accessibility are all advantages of using e-books for uni students, but it is important to consider that highlighting passages and finding quotes quickly are somewhat more difficult with an e-reader, although there are particular models of e-readers which allow you to insert notes and bookmark passages.
Eventually, while they will never replace paper editions, e-readers will become more popular among universities. At the moment, I find it useful to use e-book editions alongside paper editions. No matter what you try to do with an e-book, it is never going to feel like a book and it is never going to smell like a book. But when the most important thing is ploughing through the content, does that matter? E-books will be here to stay, so it may be worth looking to see if it will be an advantage to have one for your particular degree.
