The history of ebook dates back to 1970s, when Michael Hart realized that the greater advantage of the computer would be storage, recovery and exploring the materials already stored in our libraries. The digital form of the `Declaration of Independence` was presented as the first ebook.
Later, that small beginning turned into a huge project named as Project Gutenberg. Presently, Project Gutenberg stands with an access to 20,000 free textbooks and more than 100,000 books are offered by their partners. Every month the count for downloaded books stands above 3,000,000. These ebooks are available on the Net, can be stored in a hard drive of the computer or storage disks, easy to share and start blooming rapidly.
The earlier sets of ebooks were meant for small groups, as they were related to technical subjects like cutting edge hardware, manufacturing techniques, etc. After some time, they were available in a variety of formats and some of them were developed by leading software companies like Adobe`s PDF format. Ebooks embarked on their first success as romantic novels.
With the increasing popularity, new selling models of ebooks were developed, formats were regulated, special reading hardware was developed and many other measures were taken to make them available easily to the general public. Now you can read them on your laptops, handheld computers and on cell phones, anywhere and anytime. Leading companies have launched modern ebook reading devices also.
There are number of advantages associated with the reading of ebooks. It is easy to search the text and it can be cross-referenced with the use of hyperlinks. It does not require much space to store them, as a huge number of ebooks can be stored in a single device like one CD can store 500 ebooks. Since ebooks require little storage space, they can be accessed any time and there is no issue of `out of print` date. Authors can also earn royalties for an indefinite period.
It is a boon for the readers who are not able to read the printed texts, as they can adjust the size of the text and font. With the help of text-to-speech software, ebooks can be converted to audio books. Beside this, back-lit devices make reading of them in weak light or in complete darkness possible.
In addition to that, it is quite comfortable to read ebooks, as there is no need to grasp it like an open paperback. It can be put to one side and read with free-hands. The reproduction of ebook costs very little and required number of copies can be made instantaneously. Backups can be retained easily and it is not easy to eliminate the distributed work. Since the distribution of them is easy, it promotes the sales numbers of the printed copies.
Transferring of an e-book is an easy and quick operation. Once the download is complete, you can read it immediately or at your ease. Though the reading of them require electricity, but it does not require any other resources like paper, ink, etc. as in case of printed books. Moreover, it is cheaper than the printed books and some of them are just absolutely free. Above all, they can be updated easily.
Since every coin has two faces, even ebooks are not left apart from the disadvantages. Some of the them can be read with particular software or require special devices to display it. The existing format of ebooks may not be compatible with forthcoming devices. E-book reader devices are fragile and the risk of being damaged, stolen or lost is associated with it. Once the device is lost or stolen, the stored e-books also go away with it. Some of the them are copy restricted and can not be transferred to other person. Moreover, there are some issues with the digital rights management which becomes very difficult for a layman to comprehend.
Conclusively, the benefits of ebooks rule over the disadvantages associated with it. Nothing can stop them for spreading its domain.
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