14 DAY TRIAL // Books will never fade away as the main repository of human knowledge, scientists know that much. But what will differ in the very near future will be the way in which their content will be accessed. For the masses, the current option of buying large books and encyclopedias that take a lot of space to store and degrade over time simply does not cut it, but dedicated e-book readers, as well as smartphone touch screens could be the next best thing as far as accessibility and ease-of-use go.
Experts trying to compare the two platforms that could possibly replace average books have yet to come to a final verdict and select a winner. In fact, some of them say that doing so is impossible, mostly because the two ways of reading large chunks of information would work better by complementing each other, rather than competing against one another. And they both have the fundamental advantage of an electronic memory, which can hold thousands of books more than the average home's storage capacity.
There are serious advantages and disadvantages to each of the two new types of gadgets. As far as cell phones go, they have the edge over the classic means as far as mobility and maneuverability go. You can read while traveling a crowded bus or train, while waiting in a queue, or in any other such place. On the downside, the text is fairly small, as you would expect from the screen of a cell phone.
E-readers eliminate this inconvenience, but are bulkier than mobile phones and cannot be carried as easily around. But, as far as the reading itself goes, they vastly exceed smartphones in terms of commodity. Because they're the size of average hardbacks, they are very easy to hold, and feature larger fonts than those on the smaller screens. In the end, which class of device you select is entirely up to you.
It remains to be seen which of the two will dominate the markets of the future. Hopefully, in a few years' time, we'll have the answer to that question. Until then, enjoy the paper books, while they're still available.