There are several losses and gains associated with digitizing books, and I will enumerate each that I see in turn. The first loss is could be the loss of ownership by the author. By this, I mean that the book may be circulated illegally, as we have discussed in previous classes, causing the author losses in terms of royalties he would have otherwise received. E-books are easily reproducible, and this concern about the author is a serious one. Second, I find e-books harder to read in their digital format, and reading an entire book through a computer screen sounds like a tough task. For this reason, it is likely that people reading the entire book would probably print it out, negating some of the paper that would have otherwise been conserved. Also, it may be easier to change things in an e-book, thereby manipulating the original text and losing the intended meaning. Third and finally, I believe that there is an aesthetic loss by not having physical books. There is a beauty in the act of opening a book and turning its pages, and the reading an e-book digitally would simply lose it. It is significantly less romantic to think of curling up with a laptop next to a fire on a cold day than a physical book.
On the other hand, there are significant benefits to an e-book. First, if it is done legally, electronic books could allow for quick access by several people. This will minimize the transaction costs of going to the bookstore, finding the book, and paying for it; all of this will be digital and done in seconds. Second, there are pertinent features that will facilitate research and reading such as the search feature (Cntrl +F, or check out Amazon’s search feature) or autosummary, for example. These things can save valuable time and resources and are unavailable on standard books. Even the index cannot compare to an electronic search bearing instant results.
In summary, I do not believe that we should adopt one form to the exclusion of the other; on the contrary, both forms have their benefits and disadvantages, and I think that both should be used simultaneously. This allows people to have the best of both worlds and benefit from both regular and electronic books.
Link to Amazon’s search feature: http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1565122798/ref=sib_dp_pt/104-8103822-5187121#reader-link
Google Scholar e-book:
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