My Experience With Digital Books

The present era has witnessed immense changes in the way people around the world live their lives. Sophistication has been the buzz word and day in day out, people seek more and more ways to make their life even better. Things are no longer the way they were couple of decades back. Arguably, the greatest of these innovations has been in the field of computers and digital technology. Now the possibilities are amazing and sophistication mind-blowing. A Digital Book is one such innovation. Simply put, a digital book or an e-book is an ‘abstract book’ created in digital form which can be viewed on computers and other digital devices. Digital books have provided an altogether different dimension to reading and worldwide books have become all the more accessible now, their tangibility just notwithstanding.

I have known digital books since about eight years. Yes, I had a late start. Back then, I didn’t have a computer and laptops were still a dream for the middle-class. Cellphones had just started to have cameras and music players but still were the ‘basic’ phones as we call them today. It was then that a friend had told me about ‘PDF’. Little had I known then that it’s actually a file extension! I vividly remember his expression of ignorance when I had asked him the full-form of PDF.

Over the next 2-3 years, I came to know lot about e-books and their nature of being primarily PDF (Portable Document Format). During the early part of my graduation, I had already become a netizen- an avid internet user. That’s when I learnt about online e-book repositories from where you could download and read any number of e-books. I was driven by two important things: - one, I had a laptop and two; I wasn’t affluent enough to buy physical books.

But my real experience with digital books surfaced during my third year- something that left me forever indebted. A friend brought me the complete Harry Potter series- a collection of seven amazing books by Madam J.K Rowling. I began reading with an air of nonchalance contemplating that reading such a large volume on my laptop would not be feasible enough. Yet, I finished the entire volume in less than four months! And during the time, my perception on e-books changed dramatically. You have to carry a physical book around; turn pages every couple of minutes and worry about dog-ears and coffee-spills. On the contrary, you could just sit in front of your computer and read a whole e-book by just using your mouse. Moreover, you could simultaneously chat with your friends or even copy your favourite line and share it on your social networking profile. My love for e-books has been on the rise ever since.

And now, the present generation of touch-enabled smartphone and tablet users has a different tale to narrate altogether. There are a variety of devices providing support for digital books now- even an iPod can open an e-book for you! I too have a smartphone that brings e-books alive on my touch-screen. Be it at home, in office or during travel, I can always go through the choicest chapter of my favourite e-book. Digital books are now also being promoted as part of ‘Go Green’ drives. So, it may not be long before large libraries confine themselves to just a few inches of portable touch-screen!