Can online versions of texts replace the traditional reading of books?

Physical forms of texts vs electronic versions

With developments and trends towards digital media and electronic resources, traditional forms of texts are being made redundant.  Online reading of books, magazines and newspapers has become increasingly popular due to the compactable nature of the reading source and the ease of accessibility of the electronic resource.   The reading can be downloaded to a device or accessed via the internet or applications.  Instead of carrying around multiple books, many resources can be carried around on a single screen.  Another advantage of the electronic resource is its ability to expand fonts for individuals with eyesight issues.

However sensory elements including the sound of pages turning and the smell and feel of books only able to be experienced with the physical form of texts still attract readers to obtain the actual object.  It is the tactile features associated with reading the  physical forms of texts which give a sense of pleasure and enable the reader to feel a sense of achievement in regards to what they are reading.  In particular, as opposed to electronic versions of books where the number of pages read appears only as a number, having the actual object infront of the reader enables them to see how much they have read and how many more pages until the end of the chapter/book. As well as this, the back the backlighting on computers and tablets has been one of the negatives of reading online criticised due to the strain it places on individual’s eyes.  

It is these issues, which have led to debate about whether electronic versions of books, magazines and newspapers can replace traditional methods of reading.  Yet, e-paper technology overcomes problems with online reading by simulating the look of text on paper.  These technologies do not use backlighting, have a better contrast ratio, use less battery life and have a low refresh rate making them better and easier for human eyes to read.