I have heard this statement many times. At one point--I must admit--I said it.
I recently I read an interesting interview with a long-time Christian publisher and editor for Crossway, Allan Fisher (Turning a New Page: An Interview with Allan Fisher). In that post, Fisher addresses the advantages, disadvantages, and future of e-books:
TT: What are some benefits and drawbacks regarding the shift to electronic books that we are seeing in our day?AF: Electronic books (e-books) are perfect for people on lengthy business trips or vacations who want to take along a wide range of reading without weighing down their luggage. For “disposable books” such as mass-market paperbacks and popular fiction, e-books also work well. As a replacement for some kinds of reference works, they’ve proven themselves. When it comes to longform nonfiction, however, e-book technology cannot, on balance, match the technology of printed books. When poring over a book with multiple elements (notes, figures, diagrams, charts, appendices, bibliographies, professionally prepared indexes, and so forth), I’d choose a printed book every time.
TT: Do you believe e-books will ever replace traditional books?AF: No. The technology of the printed book is just too good to be replaced completely by e-book technology. For large reference works that benefit from periodic updates and for disposable books, the e-book format may replace print. But for serious nonfiction, the technology of the printed book is superior, making it much easier to find one’s way around in the work, notate passages, and so forth. In addition, tablets are now replacing dedicated e-readers. While tablets function as well as the latter for reading e-books, they also place at the user’s fingertips several attractive options: the Internet, e-mail, e-games, Skyping, and more. While an e-reader can be compared to a bookstore and book reading room, an iPad can be compared to a variety store with a video-games area, a TV department, a stationery department, a branch post office, a telecommunications center, and, in the back, a book department. In such a variety store, how much attention will books receive?
While he was teaching here at SWBTS, Dr. Greg Welty gave what has proved to be some excellent advice about e-books. He advised several students to consider an e-book (Kindle, Nook, I-Pad, etc.) as another bookshelf in our library.
Welty encouraged us to consider how the portability of this bookshelf might expand our reading options. We may find that certain books or genres of books lend themselves to the e-book format and others do not. For example, I find it cumbersome to read a systematic theology work on my Kindle, but reading a fiction novel or personal growth book (i.e., marriage, parenting, finance, leadership, etc.) works well.
For the books and genres that are a good fit, the portability of an e-reader allows one to read at times and places that would otherwise be impractical or difficult. My Kindle Paperwhite holds up to 1500 books in its memory, and I can purchase, download, and begin reading a book within a minute or two if I have a WiFi connection.
I think Fisher and Welty are right. Pitting these formats against one another in an either/or way is simply wrongheaded. Rather than wrestle with the "decision" of which format is better, consider the advantages and disadvantages of each and maximize them.
