The difference between digital books and electronic books
Most people today do not know the difference between a digital book and an electronic book. In fact, many people think that they are one and the same. They couldn’t be further from the truth. They are completely different species of the same animal.
digital books
Digital books, sometimes also called eBooks or PDF books, are scanned digital facsimiles of standard printed published books. You can think of them as enhanced copies of the actual paperback or paperback books we’ve come to know and love.
When we talk about the digital version of the most recent publications, they are practically identical to the original ones. When it comes to old or even old publications, they are so much better than any original you might find on the shelf at your local library. Since they are facsimiles of the original print, this really adds to the quality and helps overcome the problems of many older books, such as yellowing pages, smudging, transparent or onion-like paper, colored paper, brown inks, etc. These are scanned pages, not ‘copied’ pages, and the print quality actually represents better quality than the original book print.
The vast majority of digital books come in PDF format, although Amazon offers a Kindle edition, Mobipocket offers the MOBI version, then there is the plain TEXT format, among many others.
Digital books are usually much less expensive than their paperback or paperback counterparts, and there are almost never any shipping charges unless they are delivered on a CD (compact disc).
e-books
Electronic books are also digital books, but they were designed and written for the Internet. Many, if not most, e-books have never been officially “published”, unless you count putting something on the internet as a publication.
Most e-books were meant to be written quickly, with little or no expense, except for possible distribution. Most are short, almost always less than 100 pages, usually less than 50 pages. Some e-books literally come together in a matter of hours. They are often little more than several short reports combined.
Many e-books are self-help books or manuals of some kind, although there are some history and fiction e-books that can be found if you search for them. Most of the time, they have little or no literary value, their intentions being the distribution of facts, instructions and/or ideas.
Sometimes you can find the ebook version of a paperback or hardcover book. It will even be called the “e-book version” of any book. But if you take a closer look, you’ll find that this eBook version almost always has far fewer pages than the original. You can also call the “ebook version” the “condensed version” of the book.
Although you’ll find many ebooks in PDF format, just like digital books, many come as various generic interactive applications. But don’t be fooled by the initial attraction of the interaction. Even if this sounds like high-tech education at first, you’ll find that there’s not much in the way of interaction promise. It just disguises the fact that these books are short, technically no more than a few pages, with little or no real practicality, let alone academic value.
Last but not least, e-books are usually free or cheap, although you’ll occasionally find some specialized instructional “programs” costing hundreds of dollars.
conclusion
Technically, ebooks are digital books, although in practice there is a big difference. Personally, I usually prefer a digital book to its eBook cousin.
By Thomas A. Retterbush