Will The Printed Word Die??

[Ulysses31]

What?!? Book sales would say otherwise.
& storage is a common problem?
Where are you getting this data from?

Just from people I know, people just either too busy to read or trains so packed most people don't bother reading books to and from work like they used to. In terms of storage especially in London lots of people now live in tiny purpose built flats that can just accomodate the basics and also more and more people continue to live with their parents as they can't afford to move out so you got a large number of adults living in one home and people can't store everything they want, of course I'm talking about large book collections and not just the odd book. We recently moved to a smaller place and my brother had to simply give away his entire book collection to charity as there was simply nowhere to put them, he now buys books only ocassionally. Go to any boot market or charity shop and you'll see plenty of books available, normally around 25p each!

 

[bustybbwlover]

eventually it will probably die...i imagine the profit margin is substantially higher for digital stuff...no shipping, no printing, no need for floor space, etc but it's going to be a while before it happens

 

[shayd]

I prefer to read my books on print not on some computer screen...

Just for the record, neither of those, nor any major "E-Reader" have computer screens in the traditional sense. The screen is filled with magnitized ink instead of a light flashing rapidly to create a lighted effect. The whole point of these devices is to eliminate the eye strain people experience reading so much on a computer screen. Reading from one of the "E-Reader" is akin to reading off of an Etch-A-Sketch.

 

[LaLiLuLeLohan]

I think it'll take a while, but yeah, it'll happen. Everything is going direct. Movies, games, books, music.

To us, or most of us, nothing can replace a good book in our hands, but the youth won't share that same affinity since school books are largely being digitized and an iPad, or something like it, will be in the average teen's hands. Plus I think kids don't care about having a hard copy of anything these days. So the romance of curling up with a book or the pride in a collection will be moot.

So even as our generation(s) continue a preference for the printed page, it's slowly be fazed out. It makes sense for publishers in every way.

It's just too bad that a series of Chinese EMPs will ultimately render all our digital technology useless, leaving us without anything to read in any format. But at least it will revive the great camp fire story!

 

[Supafly]

Well, paperback books will always be around, or mext to almost.

But I really prefer hardcover books. Old school, baby