PRINT VS. DIGITAL BOOKS: A CRITIQUE

Books are an interesting medium for storytelling these days, as the advent of the digital age has created an internal divide within the medium. Where once you had to have a physical copy of the book, there are now digital copies that can be pulled up at the tap of a button nearly anywhere. And while this digital form does have its advantages, its printed counterpart has its own advantages and appeals over its binary brother.

Before diving into the classic charms of print books, it is worth talking about digital ones. The primary advantage of digital books is their accessibility and portability. Depending on whether they are downloaded or on a digital cloud, accessing multiple books can be as simple as having a charge on your phone. An entire library’s worth of books could be accessed all from one device, and yet you would not have to deal with the physical bulk and weight of carrying those books. To top it all off, it doesn’t matter if a book is in print or not; if a platform is hosting the digital book, any number of people can read it at the same time.

However, digital books do have their flaws – some minor, some major. Just as an internet connection and a charge can give access to entire volumes and series of books, the absence of one or the other can sever access to them. Battery life can restrict the amount of time one can spend reading the digital versions. There also are a multitude of distractions from the book that you can access with just a couple clicks or taps, which is a personal problem I have with digital books.

Yet for some, the issue that might sit towards the top of considerations is that depending on how the digital book is accessed, even bought, it might not truly be yours. This is most notable with digital books purchased through Amazon and accessed through their library, as Amazon can stop sales of the book and remove it from their customers’ libraries if they decide to. Again, while some people might not care too much about that, it is worth noting because it applies to most digital items – and some people do care about ownership.

As for print books, their weaknesses are straightforward. They can be bulky; you have to bring themt physically with you if you want to read; they’re hard to read in the dark and can be easily damaged. And their biggest flaw is that if a book is out of print, then you might be out of luck.

While print books can be a bit of hassle with all these issues, some of these characteristics add to their charms and are what makes them so enjoyable.

For instance, feeling the grain of the paper as you flip the page. The story dragging you in and gripping your attention as you approach the chapter’s end in the lamplight of your room in the night. The craving to see more of the story as the chapter closes off, even though your eyes are a bit weary. These are just a few of the charms I treasure about print books, and charms like them are their greatest strength. It doesn’t feel as meaningful to scroll down a page or click a button on a screen and having easy access to other entertainment that doesn’t require as much focus can be a constant temptation that makes it difficult to enjoy reading digital books.

The tactile feelings and mood of everything mean more to me than the raw practicality of a digital book. Having the book there in front of me and whiling the night away while painting a mental picture of the book’s events mean more to me than having access to thousands of stories at the drop of hat. It’s these sentimental things that are why I find print books to be such a joy to read.