The Pros and Cons of E-Books

Several years ago, the iPod revolutionized the way people listen to music. Now, companies like Amazon and Barnes & Noble are trying to create a similar revolution in the bookstore. Devices like the Kindle and Nook promise great convenience, but will they ever be as popular as paper?

I’m pretty skeptical, for a few reasons. The first is price: Amazon says their Kindle is "only $79,” but that’s still a lot considering that I just picked up a lightly-used copy of Atlas Shrugged for free at my local library.

Like a digital camera or iPod, an e-reader is supposed to pay for itself by saving money in the long term. The average price of an e-book is $10, although many are free, so they do undercut the price of a new hardcover. However, this strategy may only work for voracious readers.

The great thing about an iPod is that it gives users access to all of their music all of the time, but that seems like overkill for books. You may listen to many songs in one day, but how many books do you read? It’s tough to justify buying a whole digital library if you never get a chance to read anything.

The digital revolution also overlooks one simple fact: Paper books are durable. They can get thrown around, don’t run on batteries, and can even get wet (if you wipe them off quickly). How long do you think your Kindle will last in the hands of a 2-year-old? And, by resorting to battery power, you would be dangerously close to eliminating one of the only sources of entertainment that works when the power goes out.

Paper books are also more resistant to censorship. In Fahrenheit 451, firemen burned books. Wouldn’t their job have been easier if they just had to hit “delete”?

Digitization worked for music, but that does not mean it will work for books. Technology is not an inherently good (or bad) force; we need to decide how and where it should be applied. In this contest, Johannes Gutenberg is still beating Steve Jobs.