The Ebook: Maintaining the Engaged Reading Experience, Creating New Reading Engagements

As the electronic book slowly emerges into the cultures of reading and publishing, questions are raised about the types of reading experience the ebook can offer. Criticism levelled at the ebook states that it cannot offer the same engaged and immersive reading experience as that offered by print. Proponents of the ebook counter that engagement with the book comes not from its format, but from its content. This article examines these opposing positions and argues that the ebook can offer the same level of engaged reading as that of its printed counterpart. It will also examine how the multimodal opportunities of the ebook offer new reading engagements