Isn’t it strange that even though technology has brought us Kindles and tablets, we can’t do away with book printing? There’s just something about printed books (know more) even though their digital copies are readily available.
The question is this, what keeps attracting us to custom book printing? After all, the baby boomer generation seems to prefer e-books. Most of us that consider ourselves old school look forward to a world where we can marry both.
In this post, we take a look at why the ancient art of reading printed material will never die.
Advantages of hardcopy books
Truth be told, it is easier to organize a digital library than a physical library. Regular books can be bulky and will take a lot of time to arrange on shelves. There is also the possibility of a loss to several kinds of damage.
Kindles and tablets, on the other hand, allow for easy movement of books. You can carry a library of more than a thousand books everywhere you go. The ease of selection, access to multimedia, and portability are the selling points of digital libraries. Even though these advantages seem very juicy, e-books still lack a few vitals of printed books.
In this section, we will look at the advantages of book printing.
Books provide physical aesthetics
Now, don’t get us wrong. We aren’t saying e-books aren’t beautiful, they are in their own way. By the way, you need to consider the fact that the idea of e-books is relatively new. For this reason, newer ways to beautify them are still being processed.
With custom book printing, it is a whole different ball game. The books placed on a shelf can immediately grab one’s attention from a mile. In fact, if you are not an astute reader, just by looking at the book cover, your curiosity is aroused.
Book covers are seen as canvasses to transmit the message of the book in picture format. The beauty of the art on the cover is usually a tool of attraction and marketing. When e-books boast of beautiful design, it is usually ethereally, nothing more.
At the end of the day, along with the aesthetics is the robust experience of holding such a beauty. With e-books, all you have is the same white background which you can change to black depending on your reader. For printed material, everything oozes beauty, from the book cover to the type of paper used, and the amazing graphics.
There’s a connection
Something strange happens when you walk into a store and pick up one of their printed books. Immediately, you find yourself creating a connection with this material. You must be wondering what the sentiment is all about at this point.
This is one advantage of book printing that we hardly enjoy with digital books. These connections run quite deep in most cases which is why you find people care for their books like pets. With one custom book printing, you find it easy to hold onto certain memories.
Maybe in the future, but currently, digital books don’t offer this sort of nostalgic feeling. There’s hardly a connection, probably because you have several backups or you can always have access. Printed material have been around from time immemorial and people have always reserved a certain sentiment for them.
People come up with several reasons for the unusual connection. While some think it is because of the aesthetic beauty, others consider it the ease to read through them. The bottom line is that it is easier to forge a personal relationship with printed material.
Collectibles
One of the major characteristics of printed books is scarcity, strange as it may sound. This implies that physical copies can get exhausted. Because of this, each copy gets to be appreciated and held in high esteem.
As a matter of fact, when you own a physical book and it gets missing, the e-book equivalent can never measure up. Digital books cannot replace book printing in this regard. You just want to hold onto a physical book and keep it as long as you can.
For many people, having one of these books is like having a piece of art by one of the greats. Yes, they are cherished like that. Really, you can’t refer to e-books as collectibles. However, anytime, any day, printed materials will always be a collectibles item.
Nostalgic in nature
We have discussed a bit of this earlier, however, let’s shed some more light on this advantage of custom book printing. Many people who have claimed to be in love with physical books have one major reason. The feeling you get from flipping through the pages, it might be old school, but it has no replacement.
Yes, digital books are fast taking over, which isn’t bad in itself. What effect does this have on physical books? They will become more cherished because of the nostalgia they bring to the table. Soon, printed material will be curated, just like paintings and other pieces of art.
One thing is clear with e-books, their sales will keep soaring but they can never replace their printed counterparts. It is not strange to ask why, but when you consider all the advantages print brings, the reasons are crystal clear.
Have you tried picking up your iPad or Kindle to read a digital version of one of your cherished books? How did you feel when you did? Strange right?
Exactly our point, they will never offer you the same feeling even though both carry the same content. Asides the beauty of the books, the reading experience is just not the same. Reading printed material takes you on an amazing journey, which you may never experience with the digital version.
Of course, there are several staunch advocates of digital books. They are so in love with these books that they will see no reason why they should be second best.
Conclusion
Book printing is a great idea that has been with us for several centuries. Let’s face the fact, custom book printing is gradually falling to digital book production. E-books don’t have to substitute printed books, we can have both, each satisfying its own audience. If you have any demand for book printing, welcome to inquire us at Zigpac.
