Physical Books are superior to E-books

Sensory Experience Bisphenol A is only released in large quantities when the plastic is heated. Provided you are not baking your e-reader in the oven, it will not release BPA in any larger quantity than anything else. Features It is not the action of pressing a button that provides the distraction when browsing the internet, it is the nature of the internet itself. With all the links, websites, and people, the internet can distract like nothing else. However, none of these qualities are present in an e-reader. Half the Book The only thing e-readers are consistently missing that books have is the paper, which we have already established can be harmful to those with allergies. Variety If they are impossible to find, then they cannot be read in any form and this argument doesn't further your point. If they are impossible to find in e-book form, then they will be converted to an e-book if there is demand for an e-book of them. If there is not demand, then it doesn't matter that they are unavailable. Condition of Books Downloading a new book can be done in a very short period of time, and then internet access is no longer necessary. it only needs to be maintained for however log it takes you to find he book and a minute or two to download it. Files can be retrieved after damage, there are many third party services that specialize in this. Books are not indestructible, all manner of things can happen to them. Water damage, pages falling out after repeated use, and bent pages occur all the time. You are trying to equate an average scenario and a best case scenario. Some things will break the day you buy them and others will last for generations, but conclusions cannot be drawn from these cases alone. Signatures I do concede that a signed book has financial value, but value decreases with damage. To protect the value, it would be wise to protect the book from damage that can result from use. This would make the book itself of little practical value, as books are meant to be read. If a book is not going to be read, then how is it better than an e-book that will be read? Economy E-books, including Grapes of Wrath [1], are often available for free. My rebuttal, that instead of spending all the money at one bookstore, it can be spent at multiple different stores, still stands. C1 Plastic is not inherently more harmful, as it is more durable. You can get it wet without it dissolving, pull at it without tearing it, and all without cutting down a forest. C2 They can only be displayed in spaces where there is ample space to do so. In the small spaces that I mentioned, this is not often possible. Books can only be sold after you own them. Purchasing them costs money, and used books sell for less money than new ones, so there is no real profit to be made. C3 A library book will eventually need to be returned, which is not true of e-books. I imagine the e-book readers being distributed in a manner similar to the one used by the One laptop Per Child program, where the devices are given to those that need them. [2] Once someone has an e-book reader, millions of books are available to them. Sources [1] http://www.archive.org... [2] http://one.laptop.org...