People prefer online reading books due to the several benefits that come with it. About one-fifth of American book-readers (making it 21%) have reported that they have read an electronic book in the past year. This number then showed an increase, followed by a spike in markets of tablet and e-book reading devices due to a gift-giving season. In mid-December of 2011, 17% of American adults had reported they finished a book online the previous year; by February 2012, this increased to 21%.
Printed Books and Digital Books
Traditional forms of providing data such as printed books and newspapers are becoming obsolete due to their limited access. On the other hand, online data and information can be accessed all around the world offering convenience. For instance, individuals will be able to read news and acquire various forms of knowledge irrespective of their places, resulting in eliminating the need to travel. Similarly, if someone is seeking any data with respect to a particular topic, the internet would be able to provide it instantly. Due to this, many universities are working on offering online courses along with sharing subject material virtually as well as conducting assessments. In addition to this, readily available knowledge at a cheaper price makes the service cost-effective. The amount being spent on newspapers and printed books is considerably high when compared to digital accessibility.
Benefits of Online Reading
One of the interesting benefits of reading e-books is that they are eco-friendly. These books are written without any power being used by printing presses, and delivered without any fueled transport services. Moreover, these are created as paper-free, adhesive-free, and ink-free. Another benefit is that people are going green and are trying to reduce the cutting of trees to be made into paper for publishing books. Undoubtedly this is one of the benefits of online reading, wherein one can choose the books of his choice and save the environment in a big way.
Portability
Most people prefer reading e-books or downloadable books because they don’t have to physically carry them around anywhere. If they are in school, they don’t have to add more load to the books they are already carrying because it is already saved on their device. Hence, easy portability is also why book readers prefer the online medium for their book-reading habits.
With the devices like Kindle and Tablet PCs, it is possible to carry the eBook anywhere you go. This portability feature helps college students as well as the other research fellows to take their books along with them for easy reference.
Affordability
Another advantage to having e-books for students is that they do not have to buy expensive textbooks; instead, they can read them on the internet.
Those who have taken the plunge into reading e-books stand out in almost every way from other kinds of readers. As compared to book readers of other formats, online book readers read more books. They even read more frequently for a number of reasons: for pleasure, for research, for current events, and for work or school. Online book readers are also more likely than others to have bought their most recent book, rather than having borrowed it.
Although many old and recent studies conclude that book readers prefer reading on paper because that is easier for them to understand than what they read on screens, the differences are often small. There are some experiments that suggest that researchers should explore long-term memory with the format of the different books. This led to a 2003 study by Kate Garland of the University of Leicester and her colleagues where they asked 50 British college students to read a random course material either on a computer monitor or in a printed booklet. Twenty minutes after reading, the students were quizzed with multiple choice questions from the course material. The results showed that students scored equally well in both the format of the book however, there was a significant difference in how they remembered information from the course material.
Preference for Online Reading
To sum up, the reasons why people are preferring to read online are:
- Availability – all the time.
- Fitting a whole library in a device
- Portability – do not need to carry the weight of the books around
- Privacy while reading – read anything in public without getting judged by the cover
- Customization of fonts and size.
- No need to find a spot to put your book comfortably or use lamps.
- No need to return the books to the library
If you are an avid book reader, who also prefers the online medium for book reading, you need an internet connection to tend to your book-buying habits. You can look over the Xfinity internet prices and any of the deals in their internet packages can be used for online book reading.
