An e-book or digital book is an electronic version of the conventional book that we have today. Unlike conventional book, the text of e-books is not printed on paper, but it is in several digital formats that can only be read on a personal computer or on a device design specifically for the purpose.

By using e-book, readers will view the graphic and text of the book materials using particular platform, instead of reading it on tangible book made up of paper. There are many digital formats that are used by the e-books developers to deliver the text of the e books. Different format will offer readers different quality and features of the view of the material. Among the formats are .doc, .txt, .htm, .html, .exe, .pdf, .flv, and .avi.

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E-book in PDF format

The .pdf, .htm, .html or .exe format usually offer more proper presentation of the reading material as it can attach graphic and even sound effect together with the text. These file formats need special software to be viewed. However, there are also more simpler form of text format such as .doc or .txt which can be viewed with Microsoft Word or Notepad software.

All of the file formats that were stated can be viewed on personal computers and that was the main reason why personal computer is the most widely-used e-book reader. However, there are many other types of e book that was developed by different company to suit the need of the readers.

If we are to compare the features between the e-books and conventional books, each one of them had its own weakness and advantages.

The most noticeable advantage of e-books is that it is very light and mobile. However this feature is not relevant if the readers are using personal computer to access their e-books as oppose to laptops or smart phones. The luxury of using e-books is pushed to the maximum if the readers are using mobile devices as thousands of e-books can be stored in compact disks, digital disks or hard drives.

There are also other e-book hardware, developed specifically for the purpose of viewing the digital text and graphic. Examples of famous and widely use e books reader are Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader Touch, iRex Digital Readers, Cool-Er and Astak EZ Reader.

Among other advantages of e-books compared to conventional books are the text can be copied and paste, the material can be read in complete dark environment. Information in e-books is capable to be searched quickly when needed, as they are saved in digital formats.

Although e-books offer many luxury features for the readers, it also posses its own weakness. The most obvious weakness is that it needs electronic device to be read and it needs electrical power to operate. Readers will not be able to view the e book material if there are no electric or battery power available.

Readers will also need the right software to view the particular digital format of the e-book. For example, Adobe Reader software is needed to open the .pdf file of e book.

As the e-book files is stored digitally in hard disk, it also make vulnerable to the attack of viruses. Virus can cause the e-book file to damage and cannot be read anymore.

Another disadvantage is the material in e-books can easily been pirated by irresponsible readers as the e-books have the features of copying and pasting the text. The material can easily be copy pirated because everybody who views the file can copy and paste it anywhere and it can be done in a very short period of time.

One more drawback of e-books is readers will need credit cards to purchase them and reading it for a long period of time can cause pain points to the readers.

There are tons of e-books that are available to be downloaded on the net. Some of them can be downloaded for free but there is also website that require readers to pay to download the e-book files.
In www.ebuku.biz and www.ebook-1malaysia.blogspot.com, the local e-book portal, their products are sold in the price range of RM1 to RM 250, and some are even free.

In www.ebooks.com, the international e-book portal, the price ranged for its product is ranged from US$5.99 to US$140.

However it is advisable for readers to carefully choose the right e-book to download/buy because some of the products may contain useless information. For example, it may contain advertisement web links that will drag readers to some unknown websites. There are even e-books that contain virus that will damage the computer system.

Comparison between E-book and Conventional Book

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Comparison of top E-book Readers

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