Kindle vs Book: 5 reasons to choose e-books #ebookvsprintbook

Confession. I'm one of those people - you know, those who sniff new books for that unparalleled 'new book' smell (and if they made 'new book' scented car fresheners, I'd totally buy it). Whenever I'm travelling for a conference or something, I grab a few paperbacks, but therein lies the problem. 

When travelling, especially by air, there are serious luggage weight considerations. If you intend to do some shopping where you're going, then you want to take as little baggage with you as possible.

So I took the plunge and bought my first kindle about 5 years ago (my Christmas gift to myself). 

I recently met a man on a plane who confessed he's a die-hard fan of print books and a firm subscriber to the eReaders-are-just-not-the-same school. We got talking about books versus kindle and at the end of the journey he said I just may have convinced him to try an e-reader.

So I thought it would be fun to challenge myself (and some of you) by sharing a few points in praise of e-readers to help those on the fence make an informed (ahem) decision. Since I own a kindle, my post may have points that aren't relevant to other e-readers.

PROS

1. Many books on one device

This is for me one the of the biggest selling points of e-readers. Whether you're travelling or just going about your everyday business, having access to thousands of books without the accompanying weight makes life easier - especially if you're one of those readers who like to read two or more books concurrently. 

2. Cost
Due to lower production costs, e-books tend to be cheaper - some less than half the price of their print versions. i.e. more books for the same amount of money. If your mama raised you right, you know a good deal when you see one

3. Highlighting
If you're like me, you hold printed material in too much regard to mar their beauty with pencil marks or highlighters (let's not even get started on those who underline with ink) *shudders*. With the e-book, you can highlight and remove highlights to your merry heart's content. Bonus:you can finally get rid of the little notebook you've been noting those phrases you like.

4. No need for a new device
The kindle apps for PC, Android and mac etc. means you don't need to spend extra money for an extra device or agonise over where to carry yet another electronic device.

5. Saving the trees
The growing concerns about elimate change and saving the planet, this is a point to consider. If 90% of readers migrated completely to e-books, imagine the number of trees we could save!

CONS

6. No New Book Smell

This is the most obvious one. Any book lover will raise this issue. A kindle doesn't have the heady new books smell that read-a-holics love. So if you simply can't live without it, then you should stick with print books. Although, knowing Amazon, there's probably a kindle with a 'new book smell' button in the works. Plus, see the last point... 

7. Limited Space
The space on an e-reader isn't unlimited, unfortunately, and if you're as prolific a reader and shopper as some people I know, then you'll have to get rid of some books at time goes on. The counter argument is, of course that, may sites like Amazon have cloud storage where you can hide your hoarding habit.

8. Saving the trees
While a massive switch to e-readers might save the trees, there is the ever increasing problem of electronic waste. E-readers don't last forever. What do you do when the old one reaches the end of its usefulness. If certain parts of the world, there are no recycle programmes. So while you might win the battle (saving the trees), we might still be losing the war (saving the planet).

I'd love to read your Kindle vs Book pros and cons list, so please leave me a comment.