e-Book vs Real Book

Handrianto Wijaya, 1406568154, Chemical Engineering, English Class 404

In this era of globalization and modernization, people using gadget is something usual.
People from all ages can use and even depend on their gadgets. Thats because nowadays, we can
do a lot of things using gadgets and they make things easier for us. For example, people wont
have to bring a lot of heavy books if they want to spend their time reading books outdoor. The
technology is called e-Book. The concept of e-Book has been invented in 1993, as Peter James
published his thriller Host on two floppy disks, in 1993, it was billed as the "world's first
electronic novel", and attacked as a harbinger of the apocalypse which would destroy literature
as we knew it (Flood : 2014). The concept then being suspended due to limitation of
technology that time. It began to grow intensively when the era of smartphone started. It began
to attract people, especially people who love to read books. The use of e-Book is more practical
than the use of original books. With the current technology, you can bring a lot of books and your
favorite novels in your mini-sized-smartphone; of course its better than bringing a lot of
hardcopy books with you all the time. But, despite being that helpful, some people dislike using
e-Book. They say that the use of e-Book isnt effective and make someone lost the sense of
reading real book. That makes us wonder, is the use of the e-Book more effective than the use of
the real book? To answer that, well need to know the disadvantages, advantages, and how other
people thinks of e-Books.
First, lets discuss the disadvantage of using e-Book. Its actually my personal experience
that I feel lazy to read something on e-Book. Some people say that when you read something on
e-Book, you lose something that you usually get from reading a normal hardcopy book. That
something is the touch. Whenever you turn the page, youll have to touch the paper of the
book. For some people, that touch makes them feel excited and stimulate them to read the
book further. People think that touch is the magic that make people buy and read the real
book, than to download the e-Book version. Other disadvantage comes from the use of the book
for education. Nowadays, there are a lot of e-Book version of educational books. The publisher
claims that the e-Book version of their education books will further increase their profit and also
make people become more interested in education book as they are easier to access than the real
book. However, some people still find e-Book uncomfortable and hard to read. People often
make scribbles on books. That way, they can memorize and understand something easier. I
personally feel uncomfortable when reading e-Book, mainly because I cant write anything on eBook. Although there are some applications on smartphone that enable me to scribble on e-Book,
it still feels uncomfortable to scribble because some reasons, for example, because of the
gadgets small screen etc.
The next thing is the advantages of e-Books. As mentioned before, the advantages of eBooks are they are practical, theyre easy to access (accessible via internet) and usually, theyre

cheaper than the hardcopy books of the same title. Some people agree that the use of e-Books
make them easier to read anytime anywhere. People tend to think that reading an old fashioned
book is not practical, since they have to carry heavy books with them if they want to read those
books. I personally agree with them when it comes to practical aspect. The same goes for the
price aspect and access. e-Books have higher points for those aspects than the hardcopy books.
Its because the publishers of e-Books dont have to print the e-Book and/or distribute manually
from shop to shop. They just have to put the softcopy on the Internet, which is cheaper in cost
than to distribute the hardcopy manually. The reader just have to pay the book online and
download the softcopy version of the book (e-Book). That way, not only the distributor, but the
customer will also feel like he/she gains benefit from purchasing e-Book online. Another
advantages of e-Book is that it doesnt need paper, means that it helps reduce the global warming
in one way. However, considering the touch aspect that a person wont get from e-Books, I still
think that hardcopy books are better. Thats my opinion, how about others?
No matter how handy an ebook is, its intangible nature strips its ability to evoke the
sentimental memories a dingy, dog-eared paperback can elicit (Couts : 2013). e-Books are
handy, but it cant hold any precious memories a person have. Thats because e-Book cant be
signed, and/or marked as usual books can. e-Books lack of emotion, specifically the emotion that
the writer wants to give to the reader and the emotion that the reader wants to keep within the
book (doodles, scribbles, marks, etc.) In my opinion, when we read a book, we dont just read its
content literally, but also read the emotion that the writer wants us to feel. Though not all books
made for the purpose to entertain readers with entertaining and emotional stories, but it can be
assumed that all type of books have some aspects that the writer wants the reader to know. For
example, when you read a Calculus Book, the writer wants the reader to understand how
function works in some cases. The aspect that the writer wants the reader to know is education
aspect, how to solve a problem using a certain function etc. Furthermore, theres a disadvantage
at technology usage in e-Book principal. Sometimes, some people want to read books under
beautiful sunlight while theyre bathing in sunlight. When you use tablet to read e-Book, youll
find it difficult to read because the gadget doesnt do well when fighting against sunlight.
With all the advantages that e-Books have, e-Books still lost to real books in some crucial
aspects. When comparing e-Books and real books in price and the aspect of practicality, e-Books
are far superior than real books. However, when comparing e-Books and real books in other
crucial aspects, such as the touch, real books are far superior than e-Books. In my opinion, real
books are the best. We can keep our memories within the books, we can understand what the
writer wants us to understand by reading his/her book, We can also write/mark/scribble on the
book. There is also a self-satisfaction when you finish reading a real book, which you wont get
from reading an e-Book. The same goes when you try to learn something, for example, Calculus.
Its my personal experience that I understand something written on real books than e-Books.
Theres a feeling of laziness when I try to learn something from e-Book. Its mainly because I
dont feel comfortable enough when using my gadget to read e-Books. Its also because I cant
feel the touch of the real book when I read e-Books. Furthermore, I cant also freely scribble
on e-Books as I do on real books. The point is, I think real books are better than e-Books.

Refrences:
Flood, Alison. 2014. Where did the story of ebooks begin? | Books | theguardian.com .
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/12/ebooks-begin-medium-reading-peterjames.
Accessed on 27 October 2014.
Couts, Andrew. 2013. The 'real books vs. ebooks' debate needs to end, and ebooks should win |
Digital Trends.
http://www.digitaltrends.com/opinion/real-books-vs-ebooks/.
Accessed on 27 October 2014.

The Impact of Video Games on Children

Handrianto Wijaya, 1406568154, Chemical Engineering, English Class 404
In this era of globalization and modernization, a lot of aspects are being modernized.
Not to mention, one example of modernized aspect is the aspect of entertainment. In this essay,
I would like to discuss about video games. The first video game was invented in 1940. That time,
the traditional game of Nim was modernized and was made the first video game. However, the
console that time was too big, and the video game was too difficult that 90% of the players lost
to the computer (National Museum of Play). On the other hand, people were excited and give
positive responses about video game. Since then, a lot of development were carried out in order
to make a better video games. Up until now, numerous amount of video games sold in every
country since the invention of the very first commercial video game. Thats no wonder, because
people needs entertainment no matter how young or old they are. Apart from the sole function of
video games, which is to entertain, there are also negative sides or effects from video games,
especially for underage children. Underage children cant or dont know whats bad and whats
good since they are still lacking of experience and moral education. With this essay, well know
the positives and negatives of video games and how should we face the negative impact of video
games.
First, lets discuss about the positive impact of video games on children. Playing video
games change the brains physical structure the same way as do learning to read, playing the
piano, or navigating using a map. Much like exercise can build muscle, the powerful
combination of concentration and rewarding surges of neurotransmitters like dopamine
strengthen neural circuits that can build the brain according to University of Wisconsin
psychologist C. Shawn Green. Furthermore, it is said that when your child plays video games,
it gives his brain a real workout. In many video games, the skills required to win involve
abstract and high level thinking. These skills are not even taught at school (Tombokon : 2011).
Shortly, Tombokon said that some of the mental skills that were enhanced by video game include
following instructions, problem solving and logic, hand-eye coordination, fine motor and spatial
skills, planning, resource management and logistics, multitasking, simultaneous tracking of many
shifting variables and managing multiple objectives, quick thinking, accuracy, strategy and
anticipation, situational awareness, developing reading and math skills, perseverance, pattern
recognition, estimating skills, mapping, concentration, taking risks and many more. Some studies
also show that children have a better memory when playing video games than if they not.
Besides those skills, video games also make learning fun. Some video games were made to
educate children. There are also some video games that teach children about moral education,
mainly about friendship and helping each other.
The next thing is the negative impact of video games on children. As cited from
Tombokon, other negative impact is that children can learn something thats wrong from video
games, such as violent behavior, vengeance, aggression, negotiating and other nonviolent
solutions are often not options. Women are often portrayed as weaker characters that are helpless
or sexually provocative. Playing games that promote "acting evil" may distort a teen's sense of
right and wrong says psychologist Jay Hull from Dartmouth College. People often blame video
games for their childrens offensive or violent behavior. Though it is, in fact, one of the factors
that make children become offensive or violent, but it is not the main factor. Other factors such

as pshycological factor are considered the main reason for childrens offensive and violent
behavior. People also considered video games as an additive, since video games can make the
player sit for hours, wasting their time in front of monitor and forget about the real world. For
children, this means they spend time that they should have used to do homework or study for
playing games. The result is obvious, bad grades at school. Parents often blames video games for
this reason, and often restrict the time their children can spend on playing video games. They
believe this will solve the problem.
In order to prevent children from getting negative impact from video games, Norcia
shared some tips of managing teens media consumption, as follow : Know the rating of the
video games your child plays; Do not install video game equipment in your child's bedroom.; Set
limits on how often and how long your child is allowed to play video games.; Monitor all of your
child's media consumptionvideo games, television, movies, and the Internet.; Supervise your
child's Internet usethere are now many "video games" available for playing online.; Take the
time to discuss with your children the games they are playing or other media they are watching.
Ask your children how they feel about what they observe in these video games, television
programs or movies. This is an opportunity to share your feelings and grow closer with your
child.; Share with other parents information about certain games or ideas for helping each other
in parenting. The point to prevent the negative impact is not by not letting children play video
games, but by strictly monitoring what the childs playing, the content of the game, and how the
childs play the game.
With all the positives and negatives of video games, they are still one of the most favorite
entertainment. With a lot of variation, video games always bring surprises; since one game is
unique and different from the other. Thats the main reason children loves video games. We, as
an older generation must not forbid children from playing video games. Instead, we must let
them play video games, but with restriction such as time limit, etc as mentioned before. Playing
video games can affect childrens behavior and characteristic in every way, for example,
children can be violent and introvert because being influenced by video games, but theres a way
to prevent that. Being beside them when they play video games, watch them play and see how
they play is one way to prevent them from getting bad influence from video games. Choosing
suitable game for children is the most important thing to do. Check the rating symbol on the
games label to know whether the game suitable for children or not. We dont want our children
grow with bad influences that they get from video games right? Then its our task to make sure
they dont and wont get bad influences from video games!

References :
National Museum of Play, The Strong. No Date. Video Game History Timeline.
http://www.museumofplay.org/icheg-game-history/timeline/
Accessed on 27 October 2014
Tumbokon, Chacha, 2011. The Positive and Negative Effects of Video Games.
http://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-ofvideo-games
Accessed on 27 October 2014
Fleur, Nicholas ST. 2014. Playing Video Games Can Help Or Hurt, Depending On Whom You
Ask.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/08/08/338855459/playing-video-games-can-help-orhurt-depending-on-who-you-ask
Accessed on 27 October 2014
Norcia, Andrea. 2014. The Impact of Video Games
http://www.pamf.org/parenting-teens/general/media-web/videogames.html
Accessed on 27 October 2014