Print Books vs. E-Readers: An Apples-to-Apples Comparison

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Over the course of human history, science and technology has revolutionized human society. However, there is one item that has remained the same until recently: the book. Ever since the printing press and movable type were invented, and even as the technology used to print them advanced, books have been printed on paper. The joint inventions of the eBook and of eBook readers have changed the book publishing world forever. The differences between the age-old print book and the modern eBook reader are legion, but can be most clearly seen in four main areas: the tactile experience of the reader, the ownership rights of the reader, the quantity of reading material that can be accessed at one time, and the average price for each format.
At first glance, the most obvious difference between print books and e-readers is that print books are physical copies of books with many individual printed pages, and eBook readers are portable media devices with a screen and buttons. The tactile experience of the reader is worlds apart, as readers of print books must turn the printed page by hand every t...

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