Two years ago, I asked the question, will ebooks replace the printed book? Will we turn into a world of readers who stare at the glowing screen, instead of burrowing our noses in the musty pages of a hardcover? And I predicted that the good old printed book will never go extinct. Not completely. If vinyl records are still being used by music lovers, why wouldn’t printed books stick around for all of us book lovers? And it looks like, so far, the evidence bears me out.
I obviously have a vested interest in whether ebooks are read by anyone – I’ve published several short stories in this format. But, as a reader, I will never lose my fondness for actual pages. And recently Time magazine reported that printed books are not dying, despite all dire predictions. And, as a bonus to me, ebook sales are still increasing alongside. So the conclusion basically is–ebooks are a great, portable complement to printed books. People don’t feel like they have to choose only one or the other. And really, that’s great. There’s no reason this has to be an either-or situation. It just makes a good story to declare this an all-out war.
Of course, this study is just a snapshot of how things are right now. Everything and anything could change in the future. People might start exclusively buying ebooks. Or ebooks might just turn out to be a fad after all. But at the moment, it looks like both the printed book and the ebooks have staying power.
What about you–do you find you read both ebooks and printed books, or only one or the other?
Hmm... 
Technology in general is a fad, iphones, tablets, dishwashers, you know, technology!
In all seriousness I’m caveman-esque when it comes to the latest and greatest. With that said, nothing will replace the smell of a printed book. Even less, yes something less than nothing, will replace the smell of a REALLY OLD book. I actually smell my books when I’m pondering their mysteries, ask anyone on my bus.
😀
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The smell of an old book is replaceable 😀 Each book has a certain smell, and when you read a different (perhaps newer) copy of the same book, it can sometimes not be quite the same…
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