Oh no! Say its not SO!!!

I hope that it never comes to that. I do understand the Audio books are great for a long drive or something. Still, I love books. I love to read. When I go to the beach in the summer, I can't imagine sitting on the beach without a good book. I always have a good book going and carry it everywhere because you just never know when you are going to have a few minutes to kill. I always have my book when I break for dinner.I heard that books were going to be obsolete quite some time ago. I visit the library frequently and take out books and I hope others do as well. It would be really sad if we could no longer check out books. And lets not forget the people in the hospital and nursing homes. How convenient are the e books and audio books for them? What about those that don't have home computers? This just can't happen. I don't think it will. Do you?

I've heard this idea for sometime now, but I sure hope it won't come true. I'm not a very good on-line reader to begin with and the idea of reading a whole book as an ebook...no thanks. I love the way a book feels in my hands and what better way to spend a rainy day than cuddled up in bed reading a book? Somehow cuddling up with a Kindle wouldn't have the same appeal. LOL...I'm like you, I have several thousand hardcover (and paperback) books

I have been reading that eventually all books will be e books for about a year now. I certainly hope it is not true. I do not want my enjoyment of anything to be dependent on technology. I would miss libraries and bookstores. It will be like the albums. Even if it happens, they will end up turning around and bringing back the hard copies.

I am just like you. I love actually holding my book while I'm reading. I don't know what it is about them, but I just think books are cool. I like their cover art, their feel. I would HATE it if physical books disappeared, I would definitely read a lot less. But right now I do have a lot of books on my bookshelf, so I might just reread all my favorites (there's a lot of those in my collection). There are actually a lot of books I wouldn't mind rereading at all, in fact I'm saving them just for that purpose. But I really don't believe that books will ever become obsolete. For one thing, if history has shown us anything it's that technology can never be trusted 100%. And for another thing I think there are too many people like us, who enjoy REAL books, and will keep purchasing them. I know my dad, sister and I are all like that.

I wish it will not happen. I still prefer printed books over ebooks. I like the feel of flipping each pages and re-reading paragraphs that caught my attention. I want it handy..I want to read books without the fear of losing the battery of gadgets which happens when you read it on ebooks.

Hi there Elic: For me, books are still here to stay. Because laptops and tablets are the hot items on the tech market today, doesn't mean books are out. If the manufacturers of eBook readers won't stop making those items for the next thousand years and the prices go down to bookstore level, then electronic media may have a chance. I don't see such trend in the future. Right now, I have thousands eBooks in my HDD and DVD enough to fill a mini library if printed. It only occupies 10Gb of disk space on electronic format. However, I'm not really sure if these things are going to last in the few decades. Most probably, softwares to read them may no longer exist by then. If somebody could only invent a machine where I can read eBooks by candlelight in the middle of nowhere and costs only a few cents, anybody?

I don't like reading long articles on the computer, so I doubt I'd find reading an entire book that way in any way enjoyable. And it certainly wouldn't be wise to take an ebook in the tub with you. (Wouldn't the screen fog up, anyway?)

i would be pissed if they did away with book books. reference books in particular,i like to have in front of me,not on a monitor. plus reading that way hurts my eyes after awhile. i suppose i could print it up,but..meh. with the cost of ink?

I agree that replacing paper books with e-books is a bad idea. For one thing, reading off the computer screen that much causes eye strain. It might be OK for someone who only wants to read a book once but not for me.

I do not think that the vision will completely come true. 1) Consumer resistance a) Not everybody has a computer or an e-book reader. b) Human beings can adapt to many things but there will always be a section of the population who prefers the traditional method. c) A hard copy can easily be personalised. 2) Practicality a) Even if everybody has a laptop or e-reader, it is not feasible to carry either one to certain places. b) Electronic equipment require a constant power supply. There is no point in having 400Gb of e-books when none can be read due to no power supply. c) Computers and e-book readers cannot be handled the a book can. d) Online e-books require Internet access. In reality there are many computer users isolated from the Internet.

Should paper books become obsolete and I must choose between getting one of those blasted e-readers or never reading a new book again for as long as I live... I'd get the silly e-reader. But I won't like it. And I won't buy an e-reader until that day comes. I HATE ebooks. I just can't stand them. They're not bookish enough! They're TECHNOLOGY! The ANTI-THESIS of books! I will roll over and die the day my book randomly freezes up and does not allow me to turn the page. I will not be robbed of my extensive library of paperbacks and hardbacks only to receive one measly skinny machine with all my books reduced to bytes on a hard drive. Do you know how long hard drives live? Much shorter than a print book remains readable... I promise you. You can't lend out your ebooks to friends and family like you can pass around a good print book. What are authors going to sign on their book tours? If there are no bookstores... where are they going to go on their book tours? Where are readers going to go for their book clubs? When shopping for eBooks... can you pick any random book off the shelf and open it to the middle to see bits of the story hiding on the inside? Can you hang out in the YA section with all your friends passing potential buys around laughing or awing at the summaries? I think not!

I certainly hope not because I can't imagine a world without books! I just about have a house full of them, lol! I do most of my reading on the computer, though, because I can find more up-to-date information on the internet. That's why I'm so thankful for it. It's funny you should mention bookstores because I used to run one. I had it from 1984 to 1986. I really enjoyed having my own business but we had to close because we just weren't doing any good. I say "we" because I had two other girls who worked for me part-time. I think I like the scent of a book. I have also read while soaking in a warm bath. I like to pick out one of the characters in the story and imagine I'm her. I pretend I'm in a movie or play, in other words.

I truly hope the rumors of books' demise is overrated. I completely agree with you that much of the joy of reading will be lost if we lose paper books. Sitting in bed looking at a gadget just doesn't have the same appeal as lying under the covers with an actual book. And suppose you fall asleep reading (as I often do) and roll over and crush the gadget? Or knock it on the floor? And suppose this happens 6 paragraphs into the last chapter (the one before the epilogue) and your gadget breaks? When you wake up in the morning, eager to finish the last few pages and find out. . . your gadget will be broken and your day will be ruined. Doesn't seem worth it to me!

books maybe trash for some people, but it is a treasure for me....many of my friends ask me, why i always go to bookstores and look around. it makes me happy.i buy books, just like a person who likes to buy they're favorite clothes or perfume or shoes. and most of all, i enjoyed reading all the books that i bought.replacing them with an e-tablet, it may be a possibility, but some things are better left untouched with technology, like books.

Dont think I would like it I cant tke puter to bed with me its too big and I dont have a laptop any more

paper books are still unique and have their advantages over e-books. like what most of the guys just said here, holding a real book in your hands just feels different. i hope bookstores never disappear, that would be a disaster, lol! personally, i also like the fact that i can keep my collection for many years until my son learns to read and appreciate them like i do. plus, i can always revisit my paperbacks anytime like i sometimes do, and i don't need to power them up, lol. the only advantage i can see with book gadgets like kindle is when you often travel and like to read a lot in between. it's light and more convenient, although you may need to recharge the batt every now and then, lol. happy reading!

Learning something new. Reading a neat twist and being able to reread it. Seeing beautiful insert plates of wild plants. It depends on the book. Can't hold the computer book. Can't bring the computer book everywhere I go to forage. My computer would be full of flour or drips like some of my best recipes are when I cook. Can't fall asleep with a computer book on my chest at night. As the sun goes down, the sun fades on my book and I go to sleep. Computers stay lit unless you turn them off. Storing the computer book on a shelf to be there when I want my old friend again. I like my books. I could see an ebook for the romances I read that I read in winter and try not to fall asleep reading. Something you only want to read once and don't care if you refer back to it again.

Wouldn't that just be horrible? No books anymore, I just can't imagine it. It's bad enough they ban so many classic books that are enjoyable reading, I shutter to think of just ebooks around. It's almost as bad as writing letters and sending cards today. It will soon be a thing of the past and I find that unfortunate also. Now it's just ecards and emails, and that's it. I wonder why they teach the kids in school to write if they'll have no use for it in the future, ya know? I remember one Star Trek series where all of history was on some kind of discs..no books left. I think someone was thinking about what you're talking about quite a few years ago.

I have heard that books will eventually be obsolute, however, I really don't believe that. I love holding a book in my hands, flipping the pages, looking at the cover of the book, etc. E-readers I suppose are nice for people that travel alot and don't have to carry a huge stack of books, however it is not the same as an actual book. I go to a used bookstore here in my town. It is a very large bookstore and I don't care what time of day you go there, it is always crowded...so makes you wonder if people really want to use e-readers.

I hope it doesn't happen! I read a lot of traditional books. I can't sit at the computer very long, and when I do I have stuff to do (like MyLotting). I don't really like to read long articles on-line and I certainly don't want to read a whole book. There are a lot of people that don't have a computer let alone a tablet. I just can't see cuddling up with a good tablet.