While there are many advantages to ebooks, e-editions do have disadvantages. Many readers are aware of these disadvantages, so they prefer print books. If you only offer e-editions, you loose a segment of the book-buying public.
The disadvantages of ebooks include a loss of reader privacy. One of the largest ebook retailers, for example, uses its devices to track everything about ebook readers—the readers’ identities, what they purchase, what pages they read, how long they spend reading a page, whether they finish reading the book, what parts of the book they highlight, etc.
While retailers can use e-reader software to keeps an amazingly close eye on a readers’ preferences and reading activities, people near the reader often can’t see what he or she is reading. There’s no visible cover for bystanders to recognize. This eliminates an important role books traditional play as conversation openers in social settings and relationships. Ebooks tend to go unobserved, because they are hidden away on electronic devices.
