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Since the traditional publishing of volume has been invented, people used to use printed books and formats to keep the valuable information or literature and deliver important messages. However, with the development of technology, the use of internet has nearly completely changed the methods of integrating information and knowledge. Many different kinds of information can be converted to the electronic version and saved inside the personal computer or posted on the website.
It allows people to preserve information or formats effortlessly and deliver information more efficiently. Because the features of internet and the electronic version books (e-books) are fast and instantaneous, many materials can be downloaded on-line immediately such as newspaper articles or academic journals instead of using whole printed materials to gain the information. Although the Internet and the electronic books have many advantages, they still have some drawbacks.
This essay will illustrate the range of displacement of printed materials by electronics books which has been occurring in daily life; the benefits which can only be provided by printed materials not by the on- line books, and the replacement of printed materials by e-books comprehensively should be encouraged or not. The Internet and electronic books are used widely in modern society. Gradually, many things are replaced by internet and e-books in daily life.
Instead of buying newspapers, many people prefer to gain newest information on the Internet. The main justification which causes this situation is the electronic version materials have many benefits. The e-books are multiple, continence, instantaneous and unlimited. The most apparent example of this circumstance is that the way of education has been changed by electronic versions of text books. An efficient tuition course is basic on the effective assistance of electronic books (Joan and Tammy 2007, 225-226).
The e-books which are used in education often are the duplicate of printed text books but it adds extra multimedia such as sound effects and animations to help students to apprehend the contents of text books more easily, because the animations and the interactive programs can attract the attention of children and motivate kids to study (Shamir and Korat 2006, 532-544). Another example is that the electronic version materials are extensively used in the activities of business. In now modern society, many people attend the business conferences without any documents, but instead they use personal laptops and Universal Serial Bus (USB).
People transform the paper printed materials into electronic versions and save in computers or display on the Internet. The electronic version materials are not only convenient to carry but also make the speed of business information exchange more expeditiously. In addition, the groups who can derive most benefits are students. For example, the e-books provide a various way for students to do their own research and assist them in completing their assignments. Students can access the on-line library in anytime to search the useful information they need, also, the same electronic format can be surfed by many users at one time (Laurel 2005, 45).
They even do not have to go to the school library or worry about the availability of the books they have need to borrow. Besides, electronic books always are published instantly; people can acquire the newest messages very quickly. Because of these advantages and the features of e-books, the range of daily life has effected by the Internet and electronic books deeply. Undeniable, there are many advantages of electronic books which are provided on the Internet. However, the printed materials still have some irreplaceable advantages which the e-books can not be compared with.
The printed materials have occupied a major position in human society. Books can represent the culture of a country, for example, the historical literatures, it is the painstaking effort of our ancestors and it came from generations and the generations before, also it has recorded the most significant events on the world or the country. Some books have not only recorded the important incidents but also took down the revolutions and the changes of human society.
Moreover, the original hand written draft products of the most famous and successful writers such as Shakespeare and Hugo, are the most valuable culture heritages of a nation. Finally, printed books have more accuracy. Because the publishing of a book usually takes a long time and is a complicated process, it is attempted to ensure the value of the printed products and make the information which are provided more reliable. Therefore, the traditional printed materials still have irreplaceable value even in the digital generation. Because of the reasons which have been mentioned, the completely displacement f traditional printed books by internet and e-books still has some drawbacks and can generate many serious problems. For instance, some of e-books require a special reading machine to browse, but not all reading machines suitable for all the versions of electronic books, people might find using e-books difficult (Roa 2004, 363). Also, the screen of reading machine is fixed; therefore some articles which have long titles can not be shown completely on the screen. As the result, these situations might decrease the desire of using e-books.
It means the technology of electronic books has not completely matured yet. The most significant drawback of electronic books is that because of the information on the internet is open and easy to access; anyone can copy or plagiarize the articles and literature then post on their own blog arbitrarily. Consequently, the copyright of publishers and authors will lose protection and be abused. Finally, if the printed materials are changed to electronic version completely, the traditional literature and even the culture heritages can face a huge impact.
E-books combine the multimedia and some important historical information, it may cause the statement of the facts to deliver unclearly and make students or readers gain the wrong concept or knowledge. Hillesund (2001) said: E-book technology has a long way to go before it can equal the readability and richness of traditional books. Nevertheless, e-books have characteristics that in some ways supersede those of traditional books, being more flexible and accessible than paper books will ever be.
E-books are a new, self-contained medium that will have an enormous impact in time on society. Because of these several justifications, the totally replacement of traditional printed books by electronic version materials should not be encouraged. In conclusion, the development of technology and the arrival of digital generation have changed everyday life and the way of acquiring new information and knowledge. Especially, the improvement of internet and the electronic books make the dissemination of information become faster, more fficient and unlimited. The electronic books have undeniably created many benefits for human, but it also has brought some negative effects. The over spreading and abused of electronic version information always cause few problems such as the copyright of productions might be damaged and the national literature heritages could disappear. People have to keep seeking the methods that not only can make the use of internet and electronic books more efficient, but also avoid the disadvantages of the use of electronic version materials.
Therefore people would have to find a balance point between technology and traditional prints, preserving culture while increasing the efficiency of development. Reference: Coleman, G. 2004. E-books and Academics: An ongoing experiment. Feliciter. Vol. 4, p. p. 124-125. Hillesund, T. Will E-books Change The World? First Monday. Vol. 6, No. 10. http://firstmonday. org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index. php/fm/article/viewArticle/891/800 (accessed August 26, 2009) Joan, A. R. and Tammy, M. M. 2007. Teacher-Created Electronic Books: Integrating technology to support readers with disabilities.
The Reading Teacher. Vol. 61, No. 3, p. p. 255-256. Johnson, D. 2004. Turning the Page. School Library Journal. Vol. 50, No. 11, p. p. 44-46 Laurel, A. C. 2005. Academic Research Library: Electronic books. Teacher Librarian. Vol. 32, No. 5, p. p. 45. Rao, S. S. 2004. Electronic Book Technologies: An overview of the present situation. Library Review. Vol. 53, No. 7, p. p. 363-371. Shamir, A. and Korat, O. 2006. How to Select CD-ROM Storybooks for Young Children: The teacher’s role. The Reading Teacher. Vol. 59, p. p. 532–544.