Fellow Manila Bulletin columnist Jerry Liao has this to say about ebooks in his Having Fun with I.T. column last Monday: Not only ebooks are cheaper (actually most are FREE), it gives everyone an equal chance to read books that can only be bought by the rich before.
While I agree that ebooks are cheaper and most are free, I beg to disagree with his second premise that ebooks give everyone a chance to read books. If there is such an equalizer, it's the public libraries where everyone from all walks of life can walk in and read just about anything that's available. With ebooks, a person needs to have a computer and Internet access before being able to access one and these entails money and when one barely has enough to make both ends meet how can one have an access to an ebook? Stepping into a public library, on the other hand, will not cost anybody a cent unless one has to take a ride to get to the library and the choices of reading materials vary greatly than what is available on the Internet. Although admittedly some public libraries need plenty of room for improvements, there are a number whose collections and services show a lot of promise.
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