As much as I love physical books, it's fairly apparent that e-books will ultimately supplant their primacy for many types of publishing. Conventional books will undoubtedly still be produced far into the future, but they'll gradually become more marginalized as the mass market moves further toward electronic formats. This evolution is inevitable, as digital devices continue to integrate deeper into our lives with each generation. So it goes.
As a practical matter there certainly are some very appealing advantages to e-books. I've wanted to explore these for some time, so I recently decided to re-read a couple of familiar Vonnegut favorites as e-book editions. I purchased both from the iTunes bookstore, loaded them onto my iPhone and iPad, and then read them back-to-back, so to speak, over several days. By the time I was done I had become completely convinced of the utility of e-books and had begun planning my new e-book library.
Once I got past the tactile differences of the object itself, I found the reading experience to be very satisfactory, even for extended sessions. The interface options for visual customization and integrated reference tools were both welcome enhancements, but portability was the key benefit for me. The ability to have easy access to a book -- or a library -- on my iPhone with bookmarks that are automatically synchronized in the cloud for reading elsewhere on other devices is particularly useful. I rarely carry traditional books with me in public, but I always have my iPhone. Having a book I'm currently reading always in my pocket is very advantageous for extending its enjoyment. So much so that it has now become a priority for me when searching for new material.
The only downside I've experienced so far is on the supply side. While most new titles are available as e-books, there seems to be a dearth of older titles, even some of the more popular ones. Just as with music, I'm not only interested in buying new books, I want access to older ones as well. Apparently publishers have not rushed to embrace the mass conversion of backlists to digital the way the music industry did. The publishing industry is undoubtedly being cautious with their move into the digital market for financial reasons, but hopefully the momentum of consumer demand will soon open up more older titles. I'm a consumer, I have a credit card, and I'm waiting.
As I said at the outset, I love hardback books, and I'll always want to collect and read them for their own intrinsic value. But for reading efficiency and knowledge development e-books are an extraordinary new option well worth embracing. For my part, I now have an appreciation of both and you can certainly expect to find e-book titles covered here in the future.
