E Book

I guess to refer to an electronic book would be too long, thus the shortening to e book. Isn't it great how we adapt the word to suit our needs. Once upon a time a book would have only been a hard cover book. Then we moved on to the paper back and now we have electronic books, aptly called ebooks.

It has taken me some time to get used to the idea of ebooks, not only from a publishing point of view but also from a reading point of view. To be honest I still like the feel of a book and I have heard other people say this too. But at the same time I am conscious of carrying large books around and buying them. There is no doubt (particularly in Australia where I think paperbacks are expensive) that an ebook is far cheaper (in most instances) than a paper back. And of course not only is it cheaper but you can carry nearly an entire library with you on the range of different reading devices offered these days. I was looking at one of the new kindles, which according to the specifications can accommodate about three thousand books. Imagine carrying that many paperback books with you, an absurd notion I agree.

Of course this leads me to ponder if we really need to carry that many books with us all the time? And I would say that we probably do not. I guess it is more the luxury of knowing we can have access to that many books if we need to. If, by some remote chance, you get stranded on some desert island with your reading device you will be able to spend at least two or three months surrounded by good reading material. I understand this is subject to being able to recharge your devices battery, but I consider this to be only a minor hurdle to be overcome by us resourceful human beings. After all how many of you have watched Madagascar 2 where the people are stranded in the wilderness and the older woman gives a speech about being New Yorkers and thus being resourceful and so on.

 Back to being stranded on the desert island with your electronic device with about three thousand books stored on it. I can definitely see an advantage there. But apart from that I do not think there is much need to be able to carry that many books with you at any one time.

Don't get me wrong. As a writer, a writer who has published an ebook and is planning to publish more ebooks, I am not here to criticise ebooks. I am merely opening up the channels of discussion.

What do you prefer, an ebook or a paperback, or does it not matter to you? At the end of the day I think both have their place and both will be used by different people.

I will leave you to ponder for the night staring at the statues of musicians in a most magical setting. Enjoy :)