In this blog post, we’ll compare the evolution of e-books with the role of paper books, and explore the possibility of coexistence and the future of both media.
We live in a digital age where we access vast amounts of information daily through PCs and smartphones. This is due to the widespread adoption of digital media and the abundant supply of digital content delivered through these platforms. People have grown accustomed to accessing news faster via the internet than through newspapers, and freely enjoying diverse content on YouTube rather than watching TV broadcasts. Although people are naturally shifting from analog to digital media in this way, during university exam periods, it is common to see people intently reading books or notes on the subway. Why are they carrying heavy books instead of handling everything with their smartphones as they usually do? This is likely because the medium of the “book” has not yet fully transitioned to digital. Although e-books have been around for decades, they still haven’t surpassed the status of “paper books,” and their public recognition remains limited. This phenomenon suggests that, despite the significant advantages of e-books, they have not become mainstream because several issues remain unresolved. In this article, I will discuss how e-books have evolved to reach their current state, what unresolved issues exist, and what position e-books will occupy once those issues are resolved.
Before briefly reviewing the history of e-books, let’s first recall the history of “paper books.” If we consider “paper books” to be a term referring to all books recorded on analog media, their history extends back to the time when Cai Yun invented paper, encompassing even the era when texts were recorded on silk or bamboo slips. E-books have also been around since the early days of the digital age. The Britannica Encyclopedia, which was distributed on CD-ROMs, and various fantasy novels serialized via PC online services already took the form of e-books. We simply didn’t call them e-books back then. Various devices for reading e-books also appeared several times, but the only ones we still remember are probably PDAs and electronic dictionaries.
The turning point that suddenly brought “e-books”—which had previously gone unnoticed—into the spotlight was the launch of the “Amazon Kindle.” It began when “Amazon.com,” an online retailer that started as an online bookstore and now dominates the U.S. retail market, released the Amazon Kindle—an e-book device using “e-ink” technology—and began actively selling e-book content tailored for it. By using e-ink instead of LCD displays, eye strain was reduced and the readability of e-books was greatly improved. Additionally, the issue of content scarcity began to be resolved. However, there was a drawback in that portability was limited without a dedicated device; yet, this too was largely resolved with the widespread adoption of smartphones and tablets, leading to the current situation. In line with these changes, online bookstores in the Korean market are now selling e-books and dedicated devices, though the market size remains small.
As mentioned above, current e-books come in various formats and possess diverse characteristics accordingly. However, many people experience only the characteristics of certain formats and hastily regard them as inherent drawbacks of e-books themselves, attributing this to the lack of widespread adoption. To dispel this misunderstanding, we will examine which commonly cited drawbacks stem from specific implementation methods and how they can be resolved.
The first issue is that e-books are inconvenient to carry without a dedicated device. Even if e-books are cheaper than paper books, the need to purchase a separate dedicated device can act as a barrier to entry. However, this was only an issue during a time when portability was limited to devices designed specifically for that purpose. With the widespread adoption of smartphones and tablets, this has become a problem that can be easily solved simply by installing a dedicated application.
The second issue is that, due to the nature of the display, e-books cause more eye strain than paper books, making them less suitable for prolonged reading. Conventional displays continuously emit light through light-emitting elements, and their lower resolution compared to paper books can cause glare and eye fatigue. However, these issues can be resolved by using e-ink technology. The e-ink method applies an electric charge to black-and-white particles to change their arrangement, creating a display that reflects light much like printed paper. As a result, there is no glare, reducing eye strain, and power is consumed only when the screen refreshes. However, due to the drawbacks of limited color reproduction and slow screen refresh rates, it is primarily used in dedicated e-reader devices. While smartphones cannot use e-ink, advancements in display resolution have made text clearer, thereby reducing eye strain.
The third issue is the lack of e-book content, particularly the difficulty in accessing domestic content. This is because e-book content providers typically apply DRM to restrict reading to their own dedicated devices, and the Amazon Kindle—the leading e-reader—is not available in Korea. However, dedicated e-readers in Korea have gradually advanced to a level where they can somewhat replace the Kindle, and as usage via smartphones and tablets increases, this issue is gradually being resolved. Additionally, it has become possible to directly convert paper books into e-books using scanners, and the number of professional book-scanning companies has grown, making it easier to address content shortages and DRM issues.
As such, the disadvantages that e-books have compared to paper books are gradually being resolved through the adoption of new methods or the advancement of existing ones. However, since these issues have not yet been fully resolved, widespread adoption has not yet occurred; I believe that once a certain threshold is crossed, adoption will explode. This is due to “accessibility,” the greatest advantage e-books have over paper books. The accessibility of e-books has an impact even greater than the explosive spread of paper books following the invention of “movable type.” While movable type enabled the mass production of paper books, making them easily accessible to anyone, it still takes time for paper books to be produced and delivered to consumers. This wait is significantly longer when purchasing foreign books not in stock domestically. However, with the advent of e-books, these constraints of time and space have completely disappeared. A book that would take 10 days to arrive if purchased as a physical copy can be downloaded in just a few minutes as an e-book.
The benefits of e-books don’t stop there. Dedicated e-readers are smaller and lighter than a typical physical book, offering excellent portability that allows you to store hundreds of books. If you use your everyday smartphone or tablet, you don’t even need an additional device. These advantages apply not only to portability but also to storage. When you keep buying and collecting physical books, you eventually run out of space on your bookshelf, but this is never a problem with e-books. Even if you have so many large e-books that they won’t all fit on your dedicated device, you can store them on your PC. Even if you lose an e-book file, you can retrieve it as long as your purchase history remains. Furthermore, while physical books may deteriorate or become unreadable over time depending on storage conditions, e-books do not suffer such degradation. Additionally, from the supplier’s perspective, there is no need for large-scale production facilities or logistics warehouses.
While the advantages of e-books are undeniable, explosive growth has been hindered by certain unresolved issues. However, some of these issues are being addressed through technological advancements, while others are being resolved as the market expands. Once these issues are sufficiently resolved, e-books will likely surpass the current dominance of physical books. Yet, even if e-books become mainstream, it would be premature to conclude that physical books will disappear entirely. This is not to argue for the sentimental value of the tactile experience of a paper book. Rather, the high accessibility of e-books will not simply replace paper books but, much like the invention of movable type, will have the effect of expanding the size of the book market itself.
