Growing up, I had two loves, and one of them was technology. My dad was a software engineer for 30 years, and some of my earliest childhood memories are of learning how to navigate a gigantic grey Windows 98 desktop computer. I watched my two older brothers in a constant trade of old gadgets for new ones, and I fully embraced the quality that makes technology so beautiful: constant change and innovation.
But a couple of years ago, as I flicked through the pages of an e-book on a tablet device, I failed to see that beauty. Amazon, Apple and Barnes & Noble had taken my other love — books, and cheapened it to a seemingly endless PDF file.
I often struggle to articulate why I feel so strongly about the preservation of print books. It often ends up sounding like a sentimental rant that focuses solely on the aesthetic rather than practical appeal. So, for my fellow book traditionalists, here are five logical reasons why print books are better than e-books (in no particular order).
1. Buying print books supports the local economy, and helps to keep your favorite bookshops in business.
Peter Ogura, the owner of Black Sun Books on Hilyard Street, started his business 22 years ago after opting out of a career in legal publishing.
“I’ve always been a reader,” he said.
About five years ago, Ogura started noticing a gradual decrease in sales, which he attributes to the rise of electronic editions of books.
“It’s a fact that independent book stores are closing and have been doing so for awhile,” Ogura said. “The places that you buy e-books from don’t give back to the community like a small, local bookstore does.”
Smith Family Bookstore, a place beloved by many students looking for a good bargain on a textbook, faces a similar dilemma. Most of the Smith family still works for the store, said Steve Altman, one of the bookstore’s long-time employees. Though textbook sales and promotional efforts help the store remain profitable, other shops haven’t fared as well. Altman, who used to be a manager of another bookstore in Florida, said he’s seen a number of stores go out of business both locally and nationally, including the Border’s chain, which closed its 511 stores in 2011.
2. Not every print book has an electronic twin.
Since e-books are relatively still a phenomenon, the selection of online book retailers is limited only to well-known and recent titles. And though the number of titles converted into e-books is undoubtedly multiplying by the minute, some types of books only hold value in their paper forms: autographed novels, out-of-print texts, pocket dictionaries, coloring books and rare books all rely on the original medium in which they were published in order to captivate readers.
3. They’re not as irrelevant as you’d think.
Though Amazon would like you to believe that old-school books are “out,” according to a June 2013 study published by the PEW Research Center, 75 percent of people aged 16-29 said they had read at least one print book in the previous year. And even within circles that have embraced the use of e-readers, nearly 90 percent continue to read physical volumes. This may be surprising to older generations, considering that most people tend to attribute the success of e-books to younger readers.
4. Your physical copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will never run of out battery.
Kindles, iPads and Nooks may boast their multi-book portability, but as is the case with all portable electronic devices, they live and die (literally) by battery charge. Your digital library is literally useless on a blank screen. If I’m stranded on an island, or worse — stuck at the DMV — I won’t have to worry about finding a power outlet to charge my print book. My iPhone already gives me enough battery anxiety as it is.
5. Because all e-books are essentially knockoffs of the real thing.
Think about it. Your average e-reader probably has a cutesy animation that tries to simulate how a page turns. iBooks even has an option to place a crease on the screen where an imaginary book binding would be. Electronic readers are desperately trying to reinvent something that’s already been done. In his article “Kindle 451,” UO librarian Jeff Staiger says reading an e-book rather than a print book is similar to running on a treadmill rather than running outside.
“There is still unquestionably something cold and strange about such a sleek device, so unnecessary for the act of reading. The names ‘Kindle’ and ‘Nook’ are marketers’ transparent attempt to associate these devices with the warmth they lack,” he wrote.