Hopefully, written books will in part revert back to their origins: revered, individual edifices of the best of civilization.

Started reading my hardbound copy of Nelson DeMille´s "The Panther", which was a Christmas gift from one of my sons. Enjoying every ink-on-paper page of it so far. I don´t "hate" computer screens but they´re no substitute for a real book.

On a similar "I may not be a dinosaur after all" note, I met the young daughter of a friend over the weekend. She is a Sophomore in a local public high school and she knows how to read and write in "long hand"--CURSIVE. Because she was taught. Neither of my two sons were taught cursive writing in school.

Wishful thinking. I think a bigger reason is that there is still uncertainty as to format. Kindle, Nook, or iPad? Once you purchase one, any books you buy for it are not compatible with the others. So if your reader of choice isn´t in the market 10 years from now and your machine dies...you are out of luck!

I love my Nook; if I could, I would transfer my entire library of books to the machine and be rid of the storage and dust of the real things! But that isn´t an option; if I want them on the Nook, I have to purchase them again. In contrast with music, where the DVD can be transferred to an electronic machine and, if the next generation of machines has a different format, then you simply transfer it again.

Consider me "Old School," "Dinosaur," or whatever else you want to call me. I have an e-reader on my smart phone. I absolutely hate it. You cannot flip to the back cover to re-read the synopsis. You cannot flip to the front cover to look at the Characters if they are present there. If there is a step back in the printed version, it is absent in the digital version. Along with this, I have several books that have been signed by the authors, IN ACTUAL INK!!! How, pray tell, could they do this in a digital format and have it resemble the real thing???

With a "real" book, with covers and pages and paper and glued bindings, you can actually feel the book and smell the pages. You can flip to anywhere in the book at any time without losing your place or go back and re-read a passage for clarification if you need to do so.

I have more than 4,400 books in my personal library. They cover several genres, from classics like Shakespeare and Dickens to horror, romance and mysteries. I have books from the 1870´s and some that I bought this weekend. But all are on my shelves and none need a computer chip and a screen to read. I prefer to keep it that way.

#3
To see a book come to life in a movie, watch the Hobbit. Enjoy the rabbit sleigh in the woods. What a ride!

Remember, in the early days no one thought the printed book would catch on either. People didn´t know how to read.
Wherever I go I carry a complete set of Dickens, a complete Louisa May Alcott, The Divine Comedy, and more, all free because they are out of copyright. My light fiction is usually on Audible books, which library is also on my Kindle.
My arthritic, carpal-tunneled hands can´t hold a book for long, but they can hold a Kindle.

I have a Kindle and I have lots of books. I love to read more than anything and I also listen to audio books. I like all the formats.

The author notes a decline in e-reader sales, but neglects to look at the proliferation of e-reader applications on multi-purpose tablets. I notice he´s also not listing any publishing industry stats. And the "e-readers are only for fluff" argument is just plain silly. Not every e-book is self-published, and not every self-published book is awful. If you don´t like searching for buried treasures, don´t pay less than $2 for a title you don´t recognize.

All that said, I think the whole argument is ridiculous. While I´ve found Internet communities with members who read as voraciously as I do, in real life I know exactly four people who´ve read more than 5 books last year. Among my Internet reading companions (and real life ones, too) all consume all book formats - print, audio, e. It´s my older friends, oddly enough, who have a solid preference for e-books - easier to hold and you can make the type bigger. All formats have their advantages and disadvantages, and I can´t see why they can´t coexist. There´s nothing morally superior about any publishing format.

I do wish schools would go to e-reader textbooks instead of having the kids carry around 45 pounds of books. That´s an innovation I can´t wait for.

Tell the authors who have seen their advances and royalties shrivel over the past several years. They´ll laugh their heads off.

I can´t (won´t) give up real books. I have too many fond childhood memories of winter days spent at the local library, relaxing and reading free books in the bright, colorful surroundings warmed by a very efficient boiler and radiators.

I haven´t used my Kindle since shortly after I received it, although I think I might put some more freebies on it in case of a storm taking out the power this year. We have a car-battery charger for the laptops and could easily keep a Kindle going for a couple of weeks or more.

My biggest problem is I read so fast that my right index finger remains poised and clicks the next page button every few seconds it seems. (Yes, I do have the font size at the smallest possible setting for my eyes, but still a pain even though close-up reading was improved last year by a cataract procedure.)

Besides, it would take an awful lot of Kindles to do what filled bookcases do without any cost--they make great temperature and sound insulation.

I have a Kindle Paperwhite and love it. It is not like reading on a computer. I can no longer read paperback books so the advantage of an E reader where I can make the font as large as I like is wonderful. I can read in the dark or in bright sunlight.
I have discovered some great unknown authors in the "free" books while always having a library in my hands to search anytime I want since I cannot be without something to read or I get very cranky.

You can borrow e-books from your local library for your Kindle and you never need to leave the house to do it. You´d be surprised how many books are available this way.

I love the Kindle Fire HD that Santa brought me. I immediately found out how to borrow books from the local library for FREE. It´s great! Why pay Amazon for them when they´re free at your fingertips. My kindle also allowd me to surf the net, e-mail and do whatever else I want. It´s great! I highly recommend them!

I have had my e-novels downloaded over a thousand times. I doubt seriously if as an unknown author in a niche genre I would have those numbers with a ´flesh and blood´ book waiting to be spotted sitting on a book store or library shelf.

I have a Kindle and I love it. It means I have many books with me on my lunch hour.

I will not pay big bucks for a Kindle book. That book does not really belong to me and can be deleted by Amazon for whatever reason. (They had a copyright issue some years ago and deleted a book from Kindle owners without notice)

My hard bound books are mine and remain mine. The Kindle is for convenience.

#3, some of the various formats are transferable. I have a Kindle and I also have Kindle apps on my iPad and iPhone. There are a couple hundred books on my Kindle and I can read every one of them on the iPad and iPhone.

I adore my Kindle. I´m a bookaholic ( read: near panic attack if I have nothing to read ) and I travel a lot for my business. Before, if I finished a book on a trip, I had to go find a book store in an unfamiliar city. Now I just go to the Electronic "store" on the Kindle, order a book and in a few seconds have something new to read. And the screen looks just like the page of a book so it´s not anything like reading a computer screen. You can´t beat it.

PS: I´m married to a librarian and between us we have an insane number of books in our house. The Kindle is for convenience and travel - much easier than adding 5 pounds of extra weight in books in the suitcase.

Another poster hit my complaint on the head. I became a dinosaur by choice when mp3s first started selling on the Internet. I hated the fact that I was limited to the number of devices I could put it on. I would lose songs every time I upgraded my computer or MP3 player. Forget going back and trying to redownload after a year or two. I refuse to do the same with books.

Another pet peeve is that the cost for an ebook is the same as a paper. I wouldn´t be surprised if the publishers are pocketing the difference instead of sharing it with the authors.

I love my Kindle especially for trying out new authors, but I buy ´real´ books from my favorite authors as well as downloading audio books. Housework goes faster when I´m wrapped up in a good book, but sometimes I like to just sit and read. There´s room for books in all formats in the Barn where all of us seem to have our noses stuck in books at some point during the day.
Mrs. Cow

There are several inaccuracies in posts from those who either don´t have an eReader or tablet, and are therefore unfamiliar with them, or from those who own one but haven´t fully investigated their possibilities. Thanks to the posters who do own eReaders and tablets who have posted their merits. And BTW, ebooks and paperbacks are not equally priced. Some eBooks are free, others go for 99 cents, $2.99, and $3.99. The traditional publishers of hardback/ softcover books generally price their ebook versions at $9.99 and are being undercut by the lower priced ebooks.

Ebooks are a true Godsend. My treasured collection of all the books that I read as a child and growing up are reaching the end of their utility. Old paperbacks become yellowed with age, and the print becomes faded and hard to read. With my failing eyesight, I am faced with the choice of buying new, large print hardback books, or downloading them to my PC or smartphone. It´s great. I can adjust the font size, and order up all the classics that I never got around to reading, and all for free. I don´t have a Kindle or Nook reader yet, but it´s only a matter of time before I will get one. We will reconstitute Borges´ Library of Babylon, and hold it in the palms of our hands.

I agree with many posters - it´s all good. My ultimate fantasy is to have a fabulous library with shelves and shelves filled with hard-covers of all my beloved books. Then to relax in a leather chair softly lit by a beautiful lamp, and a hot drink to hand. Ah, paradise.

But am I happy my niece, who is serving in Afghanistan and loves to read, has a Kindle? You bet!!

I have both real books and e-books, and switch between them constantly. Each has a purpose.

The publishing industry is going to have to change, just like the music industry is.
i believe in the future you will see e-publishing houses that still do the editing, marketing, promotion, etc., and keep the author´s branding alive and in demand.

Having a bunch of self published books available, doesn´t mean that they are any good. Nobody wants to go through 5000 e-books of crap that doesn´t even rise to the level of Star Trek fan fiction, to find a gem or at least a readable book.

I would like to think that electronic publishing will get more younger people to read. Maybe we can trick them with convenience!

Not reading makes it easier to be a sheep.

There is a definite place for both digital and printed. It is important, imho, that the printed word remain viable because it is less able to be changed or forged. It endures. Digital media can be altered at the drop of a hat and don´t tell me pdf´s can´t be changed. They can. Any hack can wreck havoc with digital. Not as much so with the printed book or magazine. Digital is convenient...but there is something just wonderful for us kinesthetics about the feel of a book or magazine!

I simply love both formats but I prefer hard covers of only my most favorite authors. Out of maybe 7-8000 books I have read there are maybe 50 that I really treasure and if necessary I could spend the rest of my days re-reading them.

Having said that, I have found at least 50 very enjoyable books on Amazon that were simply FREE, and many more at very low price points.

#19 was dead wrong about royalties paid to e-book authors. Amazon pays between 30-70% royalties to authors. No print publishing house even comes near the low end of what Amazon pays, #19 is wrong about e-book prices, they are, in general, priced much lower that the hard cover print editions.

I am an avid traverler and the delight of carrying thousands of book in about a pound of weight is just incredible. The fact that I can bookmark them all I want, make notes and simply press on a word and have immediate access its definition is really extraordinary.

Yeah, that´s why my local Barnes & Noble closed its doors last year. Book sales started to decline before e-readers even hit the market. The general population just does not read any more because of all of the other distractions it has.

I too publish on Kindle, #15. The paper and ink publishers stopped considering new authors about 15 years ago in favor of the old established authors or liberal nutcases who ended up on the discount rack after a month or so.