Since 1450, when Johannes Gutenberg created the printing press, books have been a part of daily life.

It is easily the most used invention ever along with the car, television and the radio.

Therefore, there are several reasons e-readers shouldn’t and will never replace textbooks.

Textbooks are something concrete and are potentially indestructible, unless someone is careless with them.

E- readers are small and lighter, but are very susceptible to breaking. One drop could spell doom for your investment, which in some cases could cost you more than $200.

E-readers are still too expensive and  you can’t get cheap second hand copies. Or for that matter, expensive first edition copies.

Whereas, if you drop a textbook, it is more likely to bend a few pages instead, of breaking a screen as with an e-reader.

Along with stability, textbooks also provide more cost efficient alternatives, such as libraries, where you can borrow the book or you can rent the books online at websites such as Half.com, or Amazon.com.

E-readers as of right now do not provide a lot of rental services where you can rent the books while you need it and then return it when your class ends.

Along with being more accessible, textbooks don’t need to be plugged into a wall in order to function. As long as you have some light, you will be able to read wherever you are.

Imagine the unfortunate student who owns an e-reader reading a section before for a big test and his charger breaks, and the battery on the e-reader dies. Leaving him with no other option.

With textbooks, students will never have to worry about that. All you need is to carry the book with and you can study wherever and whenever you would like.

Textbooks have been around for thousands of years, and they provide the most reliable source for students of all ages.

Textbooks provide the most cost efficient alternatives for students who are on a short budget and need something that won’t cost them a lot of money.

Paper books just feel good in your hands, even the best designed e-reader is a cold, lifeless contraption by comparison.