Over the past several years the rates of reading books jumped higher, along with the spreading of genres like the YA (young adult) and romance fiction. And with the growing interest in books and fiction, the more there are new stories to pick up from. However, there stands the neverending dispute: is reading print books or e-books better? Nobody can deny that the smell of a paper book is way better than the flat body of an ebook reader, smartphone or any computer display. There is no such a feeling as holding a physical book in your hands and turning the pages, feeling them. Still, e-books are such a convenience. With electronic books, the reader gets unlimited options and benefits. They are cheaper, for there are no costs for printing and paper. E-books are instant, with just one click you can download an e-book for just a second and dive into the words. And there are many! Nowadays, everybody can write an ebook and publish online, therefore many and many new authors get into the light and reading resources will never end.
What to know about e-books and e-readers.
E-books are a digital full-content book that can be read on any device that supports the specific file type - PDF, epub, Mobi, txt, etc. They are usually purchased from e-book retailers unless the author of the e-book you want to read doesn't share it for free on the Internet. Downloading a book that usually has to be bought in violation of copyrights and this is called “pirate downloading”. E-readers are tablet-looking devices that have special e-ink screens. These screens are eye-friendly, because of the special technology that does not radiate harmful light for the eyes. E-readers can only produce display light when they are on a night reading mode. E-readers can save thousands of e-books, depending on the storage limit they have. It usually starts from 4GB and you could upgrade it with extra storage cards like SD cards.E-books can be read also on all smartphones and computers, usually without the need of installing additional programs.
Why e-books are becoming popular?
E-books are becoming more and more popular due to the fact that they are easy to operate with. Everybody could write or read an e-book and also, marketing them is way easier than the physical paperbacks. It is more efficient to spread the word about a book that one can click it and start reading it immediately after that, rather than a book that has to be bought from a store. Publishing houses and indie authors find it easier to get their work in the hands of their readers by sharing the news in different social media. Therefore new e-books are coming out every day.
Can you keep your eyes healthy when reading e-books?
As we already mentioned, if you are using an e-reader for reading e-books, you are going to get a real paper-like experience. E-ink displays are designed to be looking as much like real paper and to be eye-friendly. However, if you do not have enough to invest in buying an e-reader with an e-ink display, then you could read e-books, as already mentioned earlier in this article, from your mobile phone, tablet, and computer. Yet, these options are not very welcoming to your eyes and a long period of reading form them may lead to eye strain and vision damage due to the blue light emitted by the LCDs. Blue light exposure is very harmful to proper eye function. In order to have a great e-book reading experience on LCD screens, we recommend computer glasses or even easier solution - Iris the software that blocks blue light from your devices. Iris is a program that is going to let you read for hours and not feel that eye strain you would usually get from staring in the display. Iris is available for Windows, Android, and iOS - suitable for all devices. This software is easy to operate with. It is going to put a filter to your display and block all the blue light from it, making the display eye-friendly. With Iris, you could read e-books on your smartphone, tablet or computer with ease and not harming your eyes. Plus, Iris is going to remind you on intervals when to take a short break and flex your eyes’ muscles.
Reasons to choose e-books over print books
E-books are easy to get hold of. You can literally go to any site for e-books and purchase as many as you want. There is no limit in quantity and you won’t think about the arm pain of pulling two bags of books. Rest yourself on a comfortable sofa and scroll through the e-book catalogs with your favorite book genres. Pick a title and start reading immediately.
E-books are cheaper. Some e-books are even a lot cheaper than their paperback versions. With ebooks, there is no cost for paper and printing services or transport. You buy an e-book, and it is already in your device’s library. Also, there are frequently grand sales when you could get some really good do-not-miss deals.You can get an advanced copy. Sometimes the e-book versions are released sometime before the actual book and thus the real fans can get their itching hands on the story way earlier. Plus, there are cases in which e-books have come with extra content when pre-ordered. This is one of the reasons why e-books are becoming more and more popular.
You can read e-books in the dark. LCDs are not recommended for night time’s use but with Iris, this isn't such a big problem. Moreover, with some e-readers, there is an option to turn on night mode with a backlight that lits up the e-ink display. There you go, the problem of generations of book readers is solved, now you can read in the dark! E-books are nature-friendly.
Since there is no paper waste, e-books are good for the environment. In the United States, there are more than 2 billion books produced and even more worldwide.If e-books become even more popular, many trees are going to be saved.Highlighting quotes is easier.Do you hate when you damage your paper book in any way? Even with a sticky note to point a good quote? Well, with e-books saving quotes is very easy, you could screenshot, highlight, or even save in a special directory (on e-readers).What is more, many e-readers have built-in dictionaries in different languages, which makes reading in foreign languages effortless.
Options for custom font and text size. With e-books, the perks are many, as we already see. But one of the biggest is that you can actually change the way you read the text.You can choose from a variety of fonts and font sizes from the settings, zoom in or out, change the text layout (portrait, landscape, or something else). E-books take less space and are portable.You can carry a whole library in your pocket. E-readers, smartphones, and tablets can save a lot of files, which means you won’t run out of reading material when you are on the bus and finish your book.
To conclude, choosing e-books over paper books has its many advantages. And now, with Iris, you can read e-books comfortably from your phone or computer at any time without hurting your eyes.