Gledhill 1 Andrew Gledhill Professor Filbeck English 114A 17 October 2013 E-books Vs.

Traditional Text Do you remember carrying around boulders in your backpack as a kid, complaining about how bad your back hurts because your book bag is too heavy? Think back to when you were in grade school walking to class in the morning, and picture yourself leaning backwards, fighting the four text books that were shoved in your bag. English, Math, Science, and History books all crammed in your backpack with a few lose papers in between. Straining, what it seemed like, every muscle in your back just so you could be prepared for class. Why cant there be an alternative to big, bulky books? Well thanks to todays technology there can be. With several new tablets and software available on the market, electronic books have become possible and rather popular. Although current education systems use traditional textbooks in their courses, American education systems, K-College, should convert to paperless e-books, or digital texts, on tablets or computers because it is more cost-efficient, better for the environment, more portable, and saves valuable space. According to the article Tablets vs. Textbooks, Pediatricians and Chiropractors recommend that students should not carry more than 15% of their body weight in a backpack. However, in 2004 California did a study that the average weight of a students backpack was over the 15% body weight rule for all grade levels. Over the course of six years, 1994-2000, 23,000 youths, ages 6 to 18, were treated in hospitals due to backpack related injuries. After these shocking statistics states started to act upon them. California set up legislation that limits

Gledhill 2 the weight of textbooks depending on the intended grade. For example, text books intended for grades k-4th grade can only weigh three pounds, 5th -8th grade can weigh four pounds, and 9th 12th grade can weigh up to five pounds. The average weight of a students backpack, composed of the four core subjects, is 15.4 ounces compared to a tablet thats only about 1.5 pounds, which is more than 5 times lighter than traditional text books (Tablets vs. Textbooks). If a student was given the choice to carry four different books to school versus a tablet, I believe the ideal choice would be to take a tablet. Traditional textbooks are big and bulky compared to a tablet or even a computer. Not only do traditional textbooks weigh about 10-15 pounds more than a tablet, but they occupy a lot more space. The average textbook is 7 in x 10 in and can be as thick as 2-3 in ("Popular Book Sizes."). If you had four core classes on one day for example you would be carrying all of this bulk on your back. As much as a foots width of space taken up in your bag compared to a tablet that only weighs two pounds at the most and is less than a half inch thick. A 4GB tablet filled with 3,500 e-books weighs a billionth of a billionth of a gram more than if the tablet had an empty hard drive. If you took 3,500 traditional textbooks it would weigh approximately 2 tons more. E-books are a great way to save space and get rid of some of the bulk that books produce for students (Tablets vs. Textbooks). Not only are e-books lighter but they are also a lot more portable. You can take them in the car or on a train or even into a meeting. E-books are also good for night reading due to their light up back screens. Most tablets such as the iPad have a Bluetooth and wireless connection function. This allows users to connect to the internet to browse like a normal computer. Also, several companies have recently created wireless keyboards as well as wireless speakers. This allows users to enjoy the luxury of having cordless devices that are easier to store and use. In

Gledhill 3 addition, traditional textbooks dont have any multimedia functions such as videos or sound. With a tablet you can store games, music, movies, and much more which makes everything you need all integrated into one sleek device. For example, a student goes on a trip for the weekend to go visit his grandmother in another city which happens to be a 7 hour drive. The student has to write a paper for his English class and so while he is in the car he could simply pull out his iPad and start typing away as he listened to his favorite playlist. So what does all this bulk compression save us? Well for one in the classroom, a school with 100 teachers uses on average 250,000 sheets of paper per year (Tablets vs. Textbooks). That means one teacher uses approximately 2,500 sheets of paper in one year. A group of 1000 students use approximately $3,000-4,000 a month on paper and ink alone. The average textbook consists of about 501-800 pages (Reese). With the use of tablets all notes and books can be stored on a single device, ultimately saving massive amounts of paper. Using tablets are not only eco-friendly but they get rid of loose papers and allow students to be more organized with their assignments. In addition, you dont have any shipping fees due to the ability to download the ebook direct online, thus saving you more money and doesnt produce any waste. However, a common argument is that tablets are too expensive. They are priced anywhere from $200-500 dollars. The average cost in 2012 for a tablet was $386 and was expected to drop to $263 in 2015. These tablets however are a onetime startup cost. After you own a tablet the online text is a lot cheaper than buying a paper book. E-books for tablets on average cost about 50-60% less than traditional printed textbooks (Tablets vs. Textbooks).This means your average college student would save close to 200 dollars a semester. K-12 school districts spend $8 billion a year on textbooks. Integrating e-books into their curriculum to replace traditional textbooks would save school districts $250-1000 per student each year.

Gledhill 4 Considering all the different pros and cons about switching traditional textbooks to ebooks, the pros outweigh the cons of switching the systems. In the long run it will be system that is more organized and more efficient. In addition it will take a lot of stress off the average student due to the note tools and the replacement of note taking. Students wont have to worry about loose papers or lugging around heavy text books from class to class. In addition, college students will save a lot of money on text books, ultimately paying off their tablet startup cost the first year they own in.

Gledhill 5 Works Cited McNeil, Andr. "Print Textbooks Vs. E-Textbooks." Investopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2013. "Popular Book Sizes." Book Printer Providing Book Printing, Plus InstantQuote Pricing!. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2013. Reese, Mike. "College Textbooks Regression Model." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2013. "Tablets vs. Textbooks - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2013.