Quote:
Originally Posted by crich70
E-books have one other advantage over paper that hasn't been mentioned yet. Some of them (especially the PD titles) are available for free online. For an older person on a limited income or who isn't able to get out and about like a younger person such is a distinct advantage of e-book reader tech. I would think. Paper books on the other hand are almost always an expense (unless loaned by a friend or from the library).
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Excellent point, and it is one major reason why I ended up buying an ereader. Yet I will point out that there are many cheap ways to obtain print books. If there wasn't, I my family would have been unable to afford books while I was growing up.
Another often overlooked benefit of ebooks is accessibility to books in remote areas. Rural areas, small towns, and even remote cities (think Alaska or the North West Territories) have access to a limited selection of books in libraries and book stores. Ebooks are available anywhere there is an internet connection.
That said, there is one thing that I do wish to point out about the more extreme predictions about the demise of print books. We are over emphasizing the word technophobe. We also need to recognize that many of the people on this forum are technophiles. Since we have an inherent bias towards technology, it is difficult for us to make reliable predictions of the future.