Compare and Contrast Essay: Ebooks vs. Physical Textbooks

E-Books have been taking over Universities and other schooling systems all around the world. What’s the big deal? It seems like the world is split on whether we should remain to the physical hard copy books or make the switch to textbooks on any electronic source that allows it. With all of these textbook changes going on all around the world, we have to make a choice. Which is better? E-Books or physical textbooks? Physical textbooks allow for less glare, no notification distractions, and it forces you to remember it’s there. 

Physical textbooks allow for less glare. Glare is a pain for anyone who is trying to read small text font! Everyone has had the painful experience of sitting down with the text on an electronic device and seeing a lightbulb reflection and glare dead center on the screen. The physical text has little to no glare at all in these brightly lit rooms that E-Books would have. Glare is a pain to read through and it can be heavily distracting. When you have a physical textbook, you will not need to think about glare and how it will affect the reading of your next paragraph. Some people might disagree and say how it is not a huge deal while reading and it is just a quick adjustment. This can be overlooked by the fact that many "quick adjustments" to get glare off the screen, turns into a big adjustment overall and a distraction. 

Physical textbooks allow for no notification distractions. Have you ever been reading an E-Book and you get a text from one of your friends? Most normal people would instantly stop reading and click over to the text message to read what it says. This is a major distraction and can lead to forgetting what you were reading about. Especially if you are using a book to study, this can be a major setback. Notifications are an enemy while studying and reading due to their mysterious, and high important nature. You do not know what the text is about until you click on it, therefore most people click on notifications without even finishing the sentence they are reading. Some people might add that there is a way to get rid of notifications while studying on an electronic device. This might be true, but Amber Alerts can still come through if notifications are off. Also, physical textbooks do not have any electronic pop-ups. One more great thing about physical textbooks is the fact that there are no settings to make notifications turn off because there will never be any! 

Physical textbooks force you to remember that it’s there. Physical textbooks sit on your desk or in your room and it forces you to look at them. Whenever someone is forced to look at something it makes them think about it. E-Books are in an application or a website, and you are not forced to look at them directly. This is a major disadvantage of E-Books in my opinion. The best way to remember something is to have it nearby. Physical textbooks are usually always nearby and ready to be opened at any time. E-Books can be lost on the internet and be forgotten about until your final exam comes up! Some people might set reminders to remind themselves to read their E-Books, but that is a lot less efficient and takes more work. 

As you can tell, physical books are more efficient and perform better than E-Books. The world is slowly changing to E-Books, but I do not think that physical books will ever go away. Physical textbooks allow for less glare, no notification distractions, and it forces you to remember it’s there. These are just some of the reasons E-Books cannot compare!