Ebooks have their advantages. They’re often cheaper than their physical counterparts, and you may take any number of them anywhere. But there are downsides to consider before you pour a bunch of money into building a digital library.
1. Most Ebook Stores Sell Licenses, Not Books
Amazon’s Kindle is by far the most popular e-reader, and Amazon’s digital storefront is the largest ebook retailer. But Amazon doesn’t actually sell books. Rather, the company sells licenses to read a digital version of a book on an approved device or within an approved app.
The company can revoke this license, meaning it can delete a book from your device without your consent. Amazon has made the news for this in the past, including inthe New York Times.
Amazon isn’t alone in this regard. Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, and Google all follow the same model. Unless a retailer explicitly sells DRM-free ebooks, you’re merely buying a license instead.
2. Your Books Can’t Serve As Decoration
Your books serve as decoration, giving particular rooms a certain character. A home office with a lamp and a wall of books feels like a cozy library. With no books, that same room may just feel like a room with a desk.
Digital books may form a pretty grid on your screen, but no one usually sees that but you. And if you’re reading on your phone, a grid of ebooks isn’t all that different from a grid of apps, a grid of TV shows, a grid of games, or a grid of podcasts.
3. Digital Books Aren’t As Easy to Share
If you live with other people, the books on your bookshelf are not for your eyes only. Your partner or your kids have easy access to the same books. With ebooks, your license may not allow you to share a book with others.
And if it does, the feature usually comes with limitations, and it almost certainly requires that the other person creates an account, as is the case whensharing Kindle books with family members.
Family members aren’t the only ones who may want to see your books. Roommates or friends may ask to borrow from your collection, and you may borrow from theirs in return. Your friends may be more capable of downloading the necessary app to read an ebook, but many won’t want to bother with that process.
Besides, unless you both take part in one of thesocial networks for book lovers, you probably have no idea which ebooks your friends even own.
4. Distractions Can Make It Harder to Read
Phones, tablets, and PCs are all general-purpose devices. You can do just about anything with them. And when you’re reading, you can still do anything with them. Notifications from other apps may distract you while you’re reading on your device.
Even if you’re using a dedicated e-reader, it can still be hard to submerge yourself in a book when you can switch to any other book in your library at a whim. The tyranny of choice can be paralyzing when you’re carrying around hundreds of books at all times.
5. You (Likely) Can’t Support Your Local Book Store
Many of us who are passionate readers have a place we purchase books from that we’re also passionate about. Those of us who live within range of a locally owned bookstore often find that they offer a charm that big box stores and online storefronts can’t hope to replicate.
But in most cases, you can’t support your local bookstore when you purchase an ebook. Depending on where you live, it may be easier tocheck out ebooks from your local library. But there’s nothing like physical foot traffic that emphasizes how vital a library is to its community.
6. You Help Big Tech Get Bigger
We don’t just say goodbye to the little guys. When we go digital, we typically start buying all of our books from a single corporate giant, be that Amazon or Google. The company that already has invasive insights into so many aspects of your life gets to learn even more about you. They get to use that information to further expand their reach.
In the realm of ebooks, a massive retailer like Barnes & Noble can feel like the smaller underdog in need of support. It’s simply small fish compared to a company the size of Amazon.
7. Online Stores Lack the Magic of a Physical Place
Physical bookstores, like libraries, can be magical places. You get to walk down rows of curated shelves, amazed by what jumps out at you. And if you see something you like, or you’re at least curious about, you can start reading it then and there. It’s an experience that scrolling through thumbnails doesn’t even begin to replicate.
Are there advantages to shopping digitally? Sure. There’s nothing quite like instant gratitude. But there’s a lot that’s lost in the process.
8. You Can’t Resell or Donate Ebooks
Once you’ve read a physical book, you can sell it to put toward the purchase of your next read. Or you can donate the book to free up space on the shelf. Digital books lack this option.
When you’re ready to part with a book, you may delete it. Unlike selling or donating a book, deleting a file doesn’t pass it along to someone else. It doesn’t contribute to a circular economy.
9. It’s Harder to Skim Ebooks or Take Notes
The image is an original screenshot provided by the author
No attribution required
Image is an original screenshot from the author
In some way, ebooks are easier to read. You can change the formatting, making text larger, so you don’t need to squint. But it can be harder to skim a book when you can’t flip through pages rapidly to get the feel of what lies ahead.
Plus, while most e-reading software allows you to take notes, for many people, it just doesn’t compare to picking up a pen or highlighter to emphasize passages and write in the margins.
10. You May Retain More from Print Books
Some studies report that people absorb and remember more when they’re reading a print book versus a digital one. you may find such a study published in theEducational Research Review, where this information is particularly relevant. We may want to prepare children for a digital world by giving them early access to iPads and Chromebooks, but if they’re having a more difficult time taking in what they read, are we really setting them up for success?
This is no less relevant to students in college, adults in the workplace, or anyone interested in lifelong learning. If you want to remember what you read (and you probably do), there’s reason to believe your best bet is to stick with print.
Should You Ditch Ebooks?
Arguably, if you were going to pick one, there’s less harm in swearing off ebooks than doing away with physical books. And if you’ve never bought an ebook before, you aren’t really missing out on much. After all, the most important thing is what you’re reading.
That said, there are some books that are only available digitally, and you can grab great digital deals from sites that sell bundles. At the end of the day, there are reasons to read both digital and physical books, if you so choose.
