An eBook is an electronic book, or also known as a digital book. Contrary to the way most people think of a book (typed pages bound together in case you were wondering ), an eBook is simple the same book that has not been printed out, so it can be read on a variety of different screens.

These books are read on “e-readers”, which can be anything from your WAP-enabled cell phone, to your computer, to a device specifically dedicated to ebooks, such as Amazon’s Kindle, or Barne’s and Nobles’s Nook. If you are able to read text from a screen, that device can be labeled an e-reader.

Dedicated e-readers are most often created using e ink technology. This technology allows the reader to display the text so that the screen reflects ambient light in the same way as paper. Basically this means that the screen will not have the back lighting that most other screens such as a computer or iPad have, and so people are able to read for longer and more intensively without the risks of headaches or sore eyes. Another advantage of e ink is that the screen will not seem to fade away when viewed in direct sunlight.

In the days of eBooks before internet was widespread, the books were mainly distributed on discs. Now with the internet, it has become easier than ever to simply download whatever book catches your fancy directly to your e-reader.

Websites such as Amazon.com, Kalahari.net and the Gutenberg Project all offer offer ebooks for you to download. Amazon and Kalahari require you to pay for the books before you can download them, this price is far cheaper than you would pay to purchase the book in a bookstore as there is no longer the printing and transport costs to take into account. The Gutenberg Project was the first eBook company. They take books that are no longer copyrighted and put them into digital format for anyone to download free of charge. Just remember if you use this service to check the copywrite laws of your country. In South Africa for example any work where the author has been dead for fifty or more years is considered in the public domain. So therefore Oliver Twist is in the public domain as Charles Dickens has been dead for more than 50 years, whereas The Hobbit is not in the public domain, as JRR Tolkien has been dead for less than 50 years.

So why would people want to buy eBooks? The biggest advantage of eBooks is space saving. When you think of the space taken up by two bookshelves holding three hundred books between them, and then compare it to the size of the Amazon Kindle, there isn’t really any competition. Also, if you are traveling there is only so many books you can pack before you end up not being able to take any clothes along. If you take your e-reader you can take hundreds with no extra space being taken up.

Another advantage is that you don’t have to wait to get a book. If you are buying a book from a book shop you need to travel to the shop and stand in queues, not to mention the wait if the shop is out of stock. With an eBook the longest wait there will be is if the website you are purchasing from needs to confirm your payment. Otherwise you are simply downloading the book from the site. There is also no risk of the site being out of stock.

Finally, an eBook is an alternative to chopping down trees to print books, which in this time of environmental awareness can be a draw card to many people.

One more thing I really have to say. Even with all the advantages of eBooks, nothing beats a traditional new book with the amazing smell of unread pages…. ) (can you tell I love books?)

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