Although it may be a little too early to start thinking about Christmas gifts and all that, all the buzz around Amazon’s new Kindle Fire eBook/tablet is taking center stage. All the hype around it and other tablets like Apples successful iPad, signify a coming of age in a new breed of technology and information. Some people think that these so called tablets are nothing more than fancy eBook readers or web browsers. To many tech savvy folks out there, these gadgets are so much more than that. We live in a digital age, a modern day era of access to any and all information. Anything you could possibly want the answer to is available for you to search on the Internet with a quick Google search. Technologies such as crowd sourcing, cloud computing, and open source software are enabling the most creative technological advancements at an ever increasing speed.

Was The Kindle a Disruptive Technology?

The humble paperback is struggling to stay alive in this technologically hip day in age. Sales of paper books have been on the decline for years, no less thanks to Amazon and their innovative push to go digital with books. Amazon’s sales of eBooks now surpass those of sales of the paperback all the while brick and mortar Border’s files for bankruptcy. So was the Kindle a disruptive technology? One could argue that is the case. However, Amazon realized that they could capitalize on a market by selling digital content and saving on resources and ultimately costs by not having to deal with physical inventory and logistics for a portion of their business.

The benefit to the environment by the sale of digital assets are quite clear. All those millions of readers that are purchasing digital books and sparing thousands of trees could be viewed as modern day heroes. It’s really hard to quantify the amount of trees saved by people opting for eBooks rather than traditional paper books because of the different processes used to make paper. However, saving trees are saving trees. People sometimes buy books that barely even get used, or are read only once and then left on a bookshelf for years. For some people, especially environmentally conscious ones, that doesn’t make any sense. You wouldn’t buy a brand new pair of jeans only to wear it once and put it away to make your closet look full…right? That it is why it makes sense in this day in age to go green by choosing to go digital. Prices for eBook readers have never been cheaper since companies have been getting competitive with their offerings and prices. You don’t have to buy an expensive fancy iPad for $400 or anything like that, but rather a simple, cheaper offering is an Amazon Kindle that’ll run you a modest $79.

Books vs eBooks

The debate on whether or not eBook readers are greener than their paper versions are still being debated. Some say the carbon footprint of an iPad, Kindle, or Nook need to be taken into consideration. Sales of eBooks are still a low percentage of total paper book sales, although are gaining rapid ground. Reports in online media increasingly say that eBook sales are doubling year over year while paper book sales suffer double digit losses. Even so, paper books will most likely never fully disappear from the picture. Everyone does seem to agree that we will all convert to our technology more and more, while we forget about the traditional paper book. Books vs eBooks – sounds like the title of D-List nerd alert cinema film, but is more like the reality of the information age in which we live. The battle of the books is one fight the paper back is sure to lose by looking at the increasing sales of ebooks and the declining sales of paperbacks.

What are your thoughts on the transition to eBooks? What is your preference?