Digitized books, or e-books, are increasingly taking hold as a consumer product in
the book publishing industry, offering the promise of new forms of content delivery that
exceed the limitations of print text. At the same time, e-books challenge the book culture
that has been established by print books, which have long been understood by society to
be the prototype of “books.” Drawing on theories from the fields of reading psychology,
digital humanities, and publishing, this thesis explores the ways in which e-books will
change how people read, perceive the book as a cultural artifact, and approach publishing
as consumers. Based on a survey of people’s usage and perspectives of e-books and
interviews with publishing industry professionals who produce e-books, this thesis
explores the dual potential of e-books: to contest society’s essential understanding of the
book, and to offer a reading experience superior to what has ever been possible with print
books.