Is it Time for E-Readers to Replace Books?

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With so many e-readers currently on the market or about to hit the market, and newspapers in a state of decline, will paper books be the next thing to go? Keep reading as we take a look at the plethora of machines we can use for reading books and consider the future.

For many of us, Ray Bradbury's 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451 was required reading in high school. The tile was of course a reference to the temperature at which "firemen"--or rather, book burners--burned books. In the novel, reading was unnecessary and illegal. Though it supposedly took place in the future, even now the idea seems incredibly far-fetched.

That being said, current technology is progressing at an unbelievable pace, and it seems as if every year there are news stories about whether or not our generation will witness the demise of the newspaper or books themselves. Lately, it seems as if consumers are being inundated with new gadgets called "e-readers."

Though they surely won't make actual books illegal, they do sound like something that came out of a science fiction novel from the 50s. After all, who would have ever thought we'd be reading books on what essentially amount to portable machines?

There are literally dozens of companies releasing e-readers or currently in the process of developing one. Some of you may be wondering: what's wrong with actual books? Well, nothing of course, but these e-readers offer something even die-hard bibliophiles can't deny as appealing: the ability to store and give access to literally hundreds of book, magazines, and newspapers at once.

For example, if you're going on vacation next summer, but still want to partake in your yearly tawdry, trivial, yet fun summer reading, you'd need to take an entire extra suitcase. If, however, you happen to have an Amazon Kindle or other reading device, you can just throw it in your carry-on and download all of your guilty pleasures in secret. After all, do you really want your friends to know you spent $15 on Confessions of a Shopaholic ...and liked it? I doubt it!

Let's discuss the main differences between various e-readers and run down some of the most popular.

Next: What are they and how do they work? >>
 

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