But without physical print, how will my grandmother cut out random articles and mail them to me? Anyway, I really think E-Ink is going to be the death of print, especially once color E-Ink with a frame rate of at least 30 fps comes about. It eliminates almost every negative about e-books while maintaining all of the positives. (sidenote re: reference material: How useful is being able to ctrl+f a 1000 page reference book? fucking useful methinks)
I have to say, since getting it, I love my kindle. My wife had one, and I liked it so much I got one of my own. Books are cheaper, and I pretty much love everything about it. The major drawback is there are books that aren't in e-book format, not to mention the fact that I can't get graphic novels or comic books, so I still get those in paperback form. Otherwise, everything I buy from now on will be as an e-book, if at all possible.
I still don't have an E-Reader, despite being a gadget freak. But I think we're a ways from the death of the physical book. I think we're just seeing the occasionally lower cost and faster access to e-books leveling the market. I still maintain my 'Don't fuck people without books' rule. I think as a culture, we should all agree that if we get back to someone's house and don't see any books, we should first ask 'Wow, so did it take a long time to convert all your paper books to e-books?' and if they say 'Whut?' or 'I only read magazines' - DON'T FUCK THEM. No form of contraception is 100%, and there are too many fucking stupid people already. Don't fuck people who don't read books - for the sake of the future! I think there's some business implications for publishers who can't adapt to the changing market. But I think we'll reach a point soon where E-books are just the norm, and collecting hard copy will be like collecting vinyl. But I intend to continue being retro and keeping a hefty paperback collection for the foreseeable future. Although I'm moving in the near future, and that might start selling me on the value of fucking e-books.
I got a nook color late last year because I came across a disturbing number of ebooks. I have over 10,000 novels in epub format. It includes a large quantity of books that I've read and most books I've always wanted to read and most of them I've never heard of and will probably never even open up. There are a lot of books that I now have instant access to that I never wanted to spend $10 in the store and I haven't checked a novel out from a library in years. I'm checking off a large amount of classics. I also have hundreds of what is considered some of the greatest comics ever created. All in a format easily readable on the nook, which is perfect for comics. I love the format and it is really easy to read. I can keep a huge amount of novels, comics, magazines, you name it at one time. It's gone on and been used on every trip I've taken since I bought it. That being said, I'm still in love with printed books. Any author that I love that releases a book will be bought in hardcover and placed on my shelf. I still seek out 1st edition copies of books that I love and will continue to do so. Since the moment my wife found out she was pregnant up until now with my daughter just turning one, we've been scouring everywhere for any and every book we can amass that she might want to read. We want to make sure that she has everything from silly baby board books all the way up to Harry Potter level and up. Picture books are important, I think, for her to be physically exposed to. Turn pages, get stories read to her. We've been reading to her since she was about the size of a grapefruit in the belly. We read about two little books a night. If she grows up loving to read, I could care less if it's digital or a physical book. We'll always have a large quantity of both. On topic, I don't see the digital book boom as the death of the physical book. I do see digital becoming the primary method and it will become very difficult for new authors to get physical books printed as digital has to be infinitely cheaper. I think there will always be people who want to flip the pages and have that new book smell.