Disadvantages Of Electronic Books: The Benefits Of E-Books

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2.0 Present situation

According to Jenkins (2008), e-books are books are any form of text converted into digital form and can be viewed over a network or read on any type of computer or portable device. Merriam-Webster meanwhile defines e-books as books which are composed in or converted to digital format for display on a computer screen or handheld device. E-books are part of the digital media which are digitized content that can be transmitted over internet or computer networks. E-books are becoming more and more preferred by readers over traditional or physical books. This is quite understandable given the many benefits that e-books possess. The following are among the advantages of e-books.

2.1 Mobility

Not all types of traditional books …show more content…

These drawbacks will justify the need for libraries to provide more books rather than investing in e-books or other similar technology. The following are some of the problems of e-books.

3.1 E-books require a power source

Since e-books are in digital format, they require an external device such as computers, tablets or smart phones in order to be read. These devices in turn require a power source. If there is a blackout or if the portable device’s battery runs out of power, then it will be difficult to open and read the e-book.

3.2 E-books may contain viruses

Another problem is that since the method of borrowing an e-book requires the user to download from the library, there is the potential danger of viruses or malware sneaking into the user’s computer or portable device. To reduce the risk of viruses and malware affecting the e-books in a library’s database would require the library to make additional investments on anti-virus or anti-malware software which would incur additional cost to the library. On the users’ side, they would have to ensure that their computers or portables devices are equipped with anti-virus software of apps.

3.3 Lack of

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