THE E-BOOK

What is an e-book?

On the one hand, the e-book is the electronic or digital version of a book. They are generally read on personal computers, on smart phones, on e-Readers and on e-book devices. There are also some mobile phones which can be used to read e-books.

But on the other hand, the e-book is also considered a device which is used to read this digital version of a book. In this case, any device that posses memory and a screen can be used as a electronic book.

The main differences between an e-book and a printed book:

Firstly, I want to point out that he printed book or the traditional book, is easier to use than the electronic book; taking into account that the last one has certain limitations due to the screen whereby we read the text. In addition, it’s important to bear in mind that the electronic book promotes the hipertextuality. Owing to this fact, we can carry out a more interesting and entertaining reading of a book. Through the phenomenon of the hypertext, we can go by from one text to another without any limit. Besides,the digital book can be used to carry through investigations and achieve different information.

Another divergence between these different types of book, is that the traditional book is static and passive (it doesn’t operate on cognitive processes) whereas the printed one is dynamic (it updates and adapts the reader’s profile) and also intelligent (it processes, elaborates, selects, translates…).