With the rise of e-books comes the decline in paper books. Some people see this as a good step forward while others do not. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this trend?

It is irrefutable that a few thinks that the evolution of electronic medium of books has put the traditional paper-base books at stake. While there are unimaginable upsides such as portability and free availability, there also certain unwelcoming downsides like reduced authenticity and overuse of gadgets that the e-books require. One evident benefit of using electronic books is that they are relatively easier to be ported. In other words, the physical effort that is required to carry a paper-based book can be curbed by using its digital version. Moreover, most of the digital books are available for download totally free of any charges. Consequently, this ensures knowledge to anyone who cannot afford to buy physical form of books which costs hefty. A recent study by StackOverflow. com, a well-known online questionnaire platform, has unveiled the fact that more and more PDF versions of books are being downloaded majorly for its free accessibility. On the flip side, there are apparent downsides of using e-books. Firstly, anyone without a proper credential can create and distribute any unverified sources of information as PDFs; however, a paper-based book ensures the authenticity of its content as they are thoroughly verified by their publishers. Secondly, the trajectory growth in e-books has led to overuse of electronic gadgets amongst school-goers and learners. Consequently, this would propel serious chances of health risks in them. Should someone be exposed to using soft copies of books on a long-term basis, they stand a great chance of developing irrecoverable vision-related syndromes. To sum up, although e-books are easily movable and are available at no cost, they present us with unwelcoming demerits such as reduced authenticity and addiction to electronic devices and henceforth affecting one’s health.