Pack e-books for holiday

Electronic version of a book has similar features as printed version, just like page numbers, content, pictures, structure of a content. E-books are available in more formats for example PDF, DOCX, EPUB, eReader, iBook, MOBI.

If the downloaded e-book is in a format  not supported by your device, you can easily convert it to a suitable format. When converting, it is possible that the content loses its original structure. We recommend that you download an app that supports that format and where you can open an eBook.

Devices: You can read an e-book on the following types of devices:

• PC
• Smartphone – Android, iOS
• Tablet
• Book reader

Note that for some devices, a compatibility issue may arise when the e-book format or service through which it is accessed may not be supported by the device.

Advantages of e-book:

• E – book saves the environment – no tree was cut for printing your book.
• Simply portable – you can carry whole your library with you in one device.
• Lower price – e-book is cheaper than a hardcopy printed book.
• Combination of several media effect – e-book can contain multimedia effects that enrich the reading adventure and make you part of the story.
• Better work with the content – marking the text, searching in the text, making notes. It’s very useful when you need to work with the text for your personal purposes (for example study). Copying is simpler than rewriting notes by hand.
• Reading in the dark – you will not disturb anybody when reading in the dark.
• Simple content sharing – some services enable to share content, for example maximum 2 adults and 4 children can read the same e- book.
• Offline regime – e-book requires small space of your data storage (average 1,87 MB per one e-book). You don’t need internet access for reading, it’s necessary just for downloading e-book.

Disadvantages of e-book:

• Localization – there is a plenty of e-books in English literature. Unfortunately, there are not many Slovak books in the e-book version, mainly the older books.
• Discharging the battery – depending on the device, you need a charged battery. The display is still on when reading. This may result in greater battery consumption. The solution is to either lower the brightness or invest in a book reader e.g. Amazon’s Kindle, which uses E-ink technology. This technology is specifically built for improved readability in direct sunlight, has excellent viewing angles, and the device’s battery lasts longer.
• Lending  – with regard to the Copyright Act, lending of e-books is more complicated than in the case of classic books. There are options, for some services, such as share books across multiple devices through one account. Many services also offer a subscription for a certain period of time within which it is possible to “borrow” the book.
• On some devices, there could a problem with reading in daylight or problems with poorly lighted screen.

Purchase or subscription?

Slovakia, nowadays, the common practice is to buy an e-book in bookstores e-shops:

• Martinus – bookstore offers e-books and audio books. It is possible to see all available formats on individual sub-pages of specific book titles. The e-book section is also directly on the page, where individual titles are categorized. It is possible to filter eg. by format (pdf, mobi) or reading length. Audio books are available in mp3 format and can be downloaded to your device immediately after purchase.
• Panta rhei – bookseller offers audio books in format of CD.
• Artforum – bookstore offer e-books and audio books. In case of e- books there is a similar possibility to download e-book to your device as in Martinus.
• Audioteka – shop specialized in selling audio books, you can download to your devices. There are also extracts of audio books available for free (some extracts are 50 minutes long).
• Alza – e-shop specialized in selling electronics also sells e-books and audio books. For both formats, extracts for free download are available.

In addition to the classic e-book purchase model via the bookstore, there are online services that enable you to borrow an e-book or an audio book as a subscription. In the overview we compared one of the most used international services Scribd and one locally closer alternative Bookport.cz.