Give e-books more credit

The book, it seems, is trending down. Recent years have marked a decline in sales for almost all genres, a rare exception being the 6.9 percent jump in adult hardcovers in 2009. (This, however, is less characteristic of widespread genre success and more an indicator of Dan Brown’s rampant, though to some debatably ill-founded, popularity among the masses.) In fact, the only side of the industry that seems to be growing by leaps and bounds is, predictably, the e-book, whose sales on Amazon.com dwarfed even hardcovers, the company revealed in July.

Part of the appeal of the e-book is indubitably linked to its novelty. They’re new and have yet to peak, and there are people who make their decisions based solely on these types of qualities. But there are definitive advantages to the e-book as well, such as the ability to locate words and passages instantaneously via search, or just the general and more practically minded consolidation of the bookshelf (which, as a result, may be becoming more and more proverbial). Book-marking and margin notepad functions ensure that no aspect of the traditional reading experience is lost. Also, the perception that prices of e-books will eventually be lowered even further relative to print contributes to a certain growing fidelity on the part of consumers. Plus, they will actually give you a reason to own the ever-desirable iPad.

Of course, it seems that the majority of those with feelings one way or the other happen to find themselves hesitant to accept the e-book. A portion of the resistance can most likely be attributed to fear of the disappearing bookshelf, the notion that print will be forever eradicated and that the reader will be left with the somehow bland and unfulfilling e-book. If vinyl records, classic cars and wood-burning fireplaces have taught us anything though, it’s that longevity will persist so long as interest and a niche market do. And even if production was halted today, there would still be more than enough print in circulation and warehouses to satisfy the demand of future collectors, but that’s beside the point.

There are more immediate concerns for some of the e-book’s naysayers. A recent New York Times article cited students at Hamilton College in their preference for paper with phrases like “there can’t be a virus” and “it’s tempting to go on Facebook, and it can strain your eyes.” The former represents an instance of ignorance fueled probably by the same anxiety as the student’s aversion to e-books, while the latter seems to be at once a deflection of blame that actually originates from poor work ethic and an argument against reading in general. In fact, three quarters of students recently surveyed by the Student Public Interest Research Groups claimed that they preferred print to its digital counterpart.

But the Times article glosses over an important consideration, one that for many might trump that of personal preference: books are expensive and, at the level of higher education, often exorbitantly so. This may not, at first glance, seem like a clear-cut victory for the e-book, which is still currently costlier than renting textbooks, but there is a crucial consideration to be taken from, of all places, Metallica and the music industry. It may seem to some far-fetched to suggest that books will one day, in electronic form, be as readily accessible for pirating online as music is now, but the reality is that day is not far away.

Perhaps it’s the relatively clunky size of the e-book, or its status as a trend to be, that has so far kept OIT from sending out e-mail notifications regarding illicit online distribution. The consequences of file sharing as it applies to books, however, far outweigh those of music and film, which are ripe for leisurely and even intellectual consumption but do not represent as vast a dissemination of factual knowledge as textbooks. For those who decry the discrepancy in education visited upon the youth of the nation, not to mention the world, this horizon surely holds an exciting glimmer of hope as it applies to erasing educational inequalities. Internet access is becoming more and more readily available, be it in homes, schools or public libraries; it is conceivable that this tech revolution is bringing with it an entirely new opportunity in the realm of education.

To those who would point to the sovereignty of the publisher and their royalties as wronged by such an approach, it is necessary to recognize that same publishing company for what it is quickly becoming: an antiquated and obsolete giant that serves itself further than it does the intellectuals who create its products, and whose nearing extinction, much like that of the record label, marks a natural passing brought about by progress and the market. And to those who would undermine the value of e-book dissemination based on the laws against it, know that a government should have more concern in educating its people than in protecting a market that it cannot ever hope to effectively regulate anyway.

Whatever your personal preference may be, the e-book’s true merits lie far beyond Facebook and tired eyes. Indeed, the convergence of books and technology will change the way in which we conceive of education itself.