BFTP: 12 reasons why e-books are inevitable

A new aid to rapid - almost magical - learning has made its appearance. Indications are that if it catches on all the electronic gadgets will be so much junk. The new device is known as Built-in Orderly Organized Knowledge. The makers generally call it by its initials, BOOK.

Many advantages are claimed over the old-style learning and teaching aids on which most people are brought up nowadays. It has no wires, no electric circuit to break down, no connection is needed to an electricity power point. It is made entirely without mechanical parts to go wrong or need replacement …Heathorn, RJ 1980 Learn with Book.In: Hills, Phillip J., ed. The Future of the Printed Word. Greenwood Press.

The resisters are plentiful. Scattered research on comprehension is worrisome. Pricing and compatibility and copy protection are problematic. But the future of books, textbooks, and other educational resources is digital, especially in schools, and here are a dozen reasons why...

1. E-books* do not get lost or stolen or damaged.
2. E-books can be updated, revised, corrected.
3. E-books can be accessed at any time from any place there is an internet connection.
4. E-books do not require physical storage space or labor for shelving.
5. E-books can have assistive/adaptive features for readers including built-in dictionaries, text-to-speech, translations, font-size adjustments, etc.
6. E-books do not stigmatize readers by having covers that may indicate reading abilities or tastes.
7. E-books are transportable and always on hand if read on tablets, phones, and other devices that people seem to always have with them.
8. E-books can be supplemented with multi-media resources like video and sound and animations that help illustrate and explain concepts.
9. E-books and digital resources can be easily curated and linked to courses and lessons in learning management systems helping differentiate instruction.
10. E-book highlights and notes can be easily created, found, and exported.
11. E-book completion can be tracked, recorded, and analyzed.
12. E-books mean never running out of something to read.

I suspect when the automobile was introduced, horse lovers compiled a good number of reasons why these noisy, slow, unreliable, gas-dependent, road-dependent, and uncomfortable machines would never replace Ned and Nellie. History is on the side of e-books. Get over it.

* Remember that e-books are digital files. E-book readers are the dedicated devices on which they read.

See also:

http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/future-of-books.html

http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/future-of-books-revisited.html

http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/turning-the-page-e-books.html

http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/the-e-book-non-plan.html

http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/managing-digital-resources.html

Original post 4/26/16