Can e-books replace traditional books?

E-books can't replace traditional books in the short term.

First of all, from the perspective of the history of media development

The history of media development tells us that the emergence and development of media are closely related to the development level of social science and technology, and the emergence of new technology often promotes the emergence of new media forms. The new media will definitely have a great impact and influence on the old media at the beginning. After that, the old and new media will reach a new and more balanced state in constant running-in and adaptation. The old media did not die because of the appearance of new media, but the new media seized the share of the original media and changed the structure of the media system.

E-book is a new reading medium, and now it is in a period of great impact on the old media after the emergence of new media. The competition and impact between e-books and traditional books are inevitable. This is the inevitable choice of social development.

The contemporary development of media has proved that the view that "the emergence of new media will lead to the demise of old media" is one-sided. Because any media itself is composed of specific technical means, it has a unique role that other media do not have, but of course it also has its own limitations.

Second, from the characteristics of traditional books.

As the most representative of paper publications, traditional books are enduring because of their own characteristics. And there are many advantages that e-books don't have.

1. Easy to carry and read.

You can read directly with the naked eye without any tools, regardless of time and place. Whether it is the clarity of words or the integrity of vision, it has obvious advantages, which makes people read easily. We know that it is more difficult to browse electronic documents than paper documents; When comparing two or more documents, it is much easier to use paper documents.

2. Meet the reading habits and psychology of the public.

The layout design of traditional books is also convenient for people to carry and bind, which is suitable for people's reading habits and psychology. Paper media brings readers a unique reading experience, which is difficult for e-books.

3. It is convenient for long-term collection.

Some classic books are collectible and can be read repeatedly, and their long history has been recognized by the whole world.

4. Low price

Low prices have played an irreplaceable role in helping people in the current society read.

Third, from the characteristics of e-books.

People think about whether e-books will replace traditional books because e-books have outstanding advantages:

1. The storage density is high.

As long as a small CD, you can hold a bookshelf of books.

2. High enjoyment of resources.

A traditional book, buy it home and read it by several people. It can only be read by some people in the library, but it cannot be borrowed at the same time. On the other hand, e-books can be downloaded or read online by many people at the same time.

3. Have interactive function.

For the problems existing in books, even if they are fed back to the publishing house, they can easily communicate their reading feelings with other readers.

4. It is easy to copy and spread widely.

With just a few clicks of the mouse, the copy is complete. It is easier and faster to spread.

5. Saving resources is beneficial to environmental protection.

The printing of books requires a lot of pulp and ink, and e-books are completely unnecessary.

6. The circulation link is simple and there is no inventory sales.

Digital books have no physical form, and the network is the circulation channel. These characteristics determine that it can take the network as the carrier, so that publications can meet readers directly in a digital way without any middleman or other media intervening between publishers and readers.

7. Yes, print on demand.

According to the requirements of readers, small batch printing can be carried out on demand to meet the individual needs of readers. For example, some academic books are not sold well, which is not easy to cause inventory.

8. Easy to update, modify and republish the version, and easy to query and retrieve.

It is troublesome to revise and correct mistakes in traditional books, which requires complicated processes such as production, proofing, output and re-binding. Compared with this, it is much easier to modify and correct digital books, just put the modified digital books on the website for readers to update. Never out of print, never out of stock.

Everything depends on both sides, and e-books also have their limitations.

1. Not easy to read.

Long-term exposure to electronic screens is harmful to eyes and Shanghai. If you read some long articles, it will be more laborious.

2. There is still no standardized format for e-books.

There are many formats supported by e-books, including TXT, HTML, EXE, WDR, CHP, HLP, OEB, PDF, etc. These formats are incompatible and uncoordinated with each other, which basically leads readers to use the corresponding reading software and hardware when buying an e-book, which will inevitably bring unnecessary trouble to readers. Therefore, the problem of format standardization is an urgent technical problem for e-books.

3. E-books have high requirements for reading environment.

There are only three ways to read e-books:

(1) Read online. Readers can read the required electronic documents directly on the Internet after obtaining them through the Internet.

(2) download and read. Download electronic documents from the Internet and read them on a single computer (PC or terminal).

(3) read with a special hand-held reader. For example, the earliest soft books and pocket books imported from abroad, and the "pocket study" in China.

But either way, it must be supported by network and hardware equipment. For the ordinary audience in our country, it is still difficult to buy such hardware equipment and master its use. For example, a farmer friend buys a book to learn farming, or a paper book is more suitable.

4. The privacy of e-books is difficult to protect.

After the purchase of traditional books, who reads what works where, the author and the publishing house are unknowable.

E-books are not suitable for many readers in society.

Due to the characteristics of e-book reading mode, some readers in society are limited. When people are reading, computers will produce radiation harmful to the human body, so for special people, we should try to avoid this reading method. Besides, not everyone is online.

6. E-books can't satisfy the desire of collectors.

A paper book with exquisite binding and content will stimulate people's possessiveness. Especially in China, which has a long tradition of book collection, the preference and collection of paper books are not easy to disappear, and e-books cannot meet the requirements of readers in this respect.

7. E-books also have limitations in protecting the author's copyright.

A remarkable feature of electronic publishing is that it is very easy to copy information. People can quickly copy and reuse information by pressing a few keys on the computer. Therefore, compared with traditional publications, electronic publications are more likely to be pirated, which leads to copyright disputes.

8. Information dissemination on the Internet lacks constraints and norms.

A large number of repeated information and false information flow with effective information on the Internet, which increases the difficulty for readers to obtain information and hinders the rapid spread of effective information on the Internet. Electronic publishing does not have the means of review and quality control that traditional publishing has, and there are usually some false information in it. Therefore, there are still many people who are skeptical about the accuracy, scientificity and reliability of electronic publications.

9. Strong dependence on the outside world.

Once the hard disk of the e-book provided by the author on the Internet is destroyed, the contents in the book may be lost forever. If the company that manages the database stops providing it, or the publishing house closes down, no one knows what will happen to its works.

Traditional books and e-books have their own advantages and disadvantages. The relationship between them should not be antagonistic. In the tide of the Internet age, it is a feasible choice to combine e-books with traditional books. The network introduces the content of traditional books to enrich its connotation, and traditional books expand their dissemination scope with the help of the network. They are mutually beneficial and win-win

Network publishing is the general trend of publishing industry, and the market space of e-books will gradually expand. This is the necessity of historical development and the choice of scientific and technological progress.

Although the traditional books have their own advantages, the results are not optimistic if they stay put and do not make appropriate changes according to the needs of the audience in the new period.