What Is An Ebook and How Does It Work?

Books are often called a man’s best friend. In this constantly changing world, where people look for more convenient and easy-to-use alternatives for everything, this best friend of ours has also evolved into a ‘smart’ friend with the concept of an e-book. Wondering what is an ebook and how does it work? Keep reading to find out!

What Is An Ebook?

An ebook is a book presented in a format that allows you to read it on an electronic device like a computer or handheld device. Several books that are available in printed versions can be found as ebooks. These include everything from bestselling fiction, classics to reference and academic texts. An ebook can consist of electronic text or also include audio, video or hyperlinks.

Do You Know? The first ebook was invented as early as 1971 when Michael S. Hart launched Project Gutenberg and made a digital copy of the US Declaration of Independence. This was the first eBook in the world.

How Do I Read An Ebook?

Currently, there are three prevalent ways to read an ebook:

1. Portable ebook reading devices

Portable ebook reading devices are small hand-held computers that simulate the book reading experience. They are sized the same as a paperback, work on battery power and have a back-lit screen. They display texts downloaded from a computer and let the reader search for keywords, add notes, and hyperlinks.

2. Using special softwares on PC devices

You can download free reader software packages from the internet—for example, Adobe Acrobat Reader and Microsoft Edge Reader are commonly used.

3. Handheld computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs)

The free software packages described above are also available for handheld computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs).

Also Check Out: Must Read Motivational Books for Students

Advantages

No messy pages and no lost bookmarks! Ebooks have multiple advantages over printed books. These are as follows: 

• Greater speed: You do not have to go through the time-consuming process of trying to search for a book in libraries or wait for it to be delivered to you physically. An ebook can be downloaded within seconds over the internet, provided it is available.

• More Portability: Storing books can be a struggle. Several ebooks can be stored on one device, making it ideal for travelling too! PDAs are an excellent medium for travel guide books.

• Print on-demand: Books need no longer go out of print. You can print ebooks on demand if required.

• Increased Interactivity: You can take notes, highlight and underline, bookmark pages without being messy and losing your bookmark! You can explore and gain bonus information through hyperlinks.

• Personalisation: The display can be personalised like the back-lighting, and font size can be increased. This feature makes it ideal for the visually impaired.

• Add-ons: Many ebooks have searchable text, thesaurus and dictionaries, and many other features.

• Open market: Writers can avoid the publishing process by publishing electronically directly to the open market. 

• Environmentally friendly: Millions of trees are cut down every year to make paper. Paper-free books have the potential to save trees.

Also Read: General Knowledge Books for Competitive Exams

What Are The Disadvantages Of Ebooks?

Everything on this planet has its fair share of advantages and disadvantages. Similar is the case with an ebook. After knowing what is an ebook and about its advantages, let us now go through some of the disadvantages of the same:

• The quantity of books available in ebook format is still pretty limited. 
• If downloaded onto a computer, you cannot print out an ebook due to specific permission requirements and restrictions. 
• Quite a few of these online books are available in Mac-friendly formats.

Also Read: eBooks vs Printed Books: Which are better?

How Much Do They Cost?

While we’ve already answered questions like ‘what is an ebook?’ and ‘how you can use it? and you will get ebook from fiverr Talking about any convenience tool without mentioning its cost is futile, isn’t it?

Most books are often a one-time read, hence paying a high price for the paperbacks of books might be a pinch in our pockets. Ebooks solve this problem. An ebook is generally more affordable than paperbacks, costing between £2 to £6 (INR 200- 600). There is no additional delivery fee and, if you’re downloading them onto your computer, the software is generally free and pre-downloaded. The costs may come down even further soon. 

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