A late night of boredom and curiosity led me to download the iBook application, making my iPhone an e-book reader. Every technological improvement has its advantages and quirks; and after finishing several chapters, I decided on a list of pros and cons regarding this new craze.

Let’s start with the biggest con: these things are expensive. Every iBook costs about the same as a regular book you can hold in your hands, only you can’t hold it in your hands.

Reading an electronic book also requires the patience to read on another screen. As students, most of us scroll through computer screens all day, so reading an iBook takes away the pleasure of the pages. Plus, if you read before going to bed, looking at the bright light makes it difficult to get to sleep.

Another related complaint is you can’t feel the pages you’ve read beneath your fingers, so the sense of turning pages and moving forward isn’t as obvious.

While convenience is a draw for downloading books, you can’t really share iBooks or borrow them from a friend. Unless you can live without your phone for a few days, sharing a good book with someone is out of the question.

One problem with iBooks is that I am reading a book on my phone. Normally, reading is an escape from the real world, but the real world can’t help but interrupt the iBook. Over the phone, text messages pop up in the middle of a page, the dinging tone of an e-mail interrupts the silence, and someone can easily call and disturb an otherwise perfect paragraph.

However, there are some exciting advantages to the iBooks, especially as the technology continues to develop. I can always have it with me, and I will never be bored.

The iBook is more comfortable to hold than an actual book because you only need one hand to hold it and to turn the pages. You can be propped up on one arm or have an arm behind your head without needing to move it every time you need to turn a page.

Buying a book becomes a lot easier without the hassle of searching through a store. If I want to read something, it doesn’t matter where I am — I just go to the iBooks store on my phone, browse the selections and find the ones I want. No need to hop in the car and drive to the bookstore. Books are literally at my fingertips.

This application can be very useful for reference books, especially as a student. There’s no need to carry a stack of books or anthology around for an essay because they can all be stored in your phone.

The iBook application itself is free, so it’s worth playing around with. While I don’t want to get rid of physical books altogether, having a book stored in my phone every now and then is worth the cost and the cons.