Will e-book readers eventually go back to paper books?

[Graham Coulson]

By all accounts, e-books are so popular they’re outselling paper books and we constantly hear cries of sheer delight from people who simply love their e-reader. They’re all the rage at the moment.

BUT… is it just a short-term craze? … Will the mania cool? … Will a growing number of current devotees slip back to increasingly reading paper books, ultimately to then consign their once beloved e-reader to the recycling dump? Not me, I hear you cry!

I’d love to know what other people feel and why. If you can give your reasons for why you feel the way you do, it’ll promote a really interesting debate.

[zespectre]

With an ereader I can have an entire library with me wherever I go. This includes reference works as well as pleasure reading.

The only issue I tend to have with electronic media is that it is awfully easy to "edit" so I worry about "drift" especially in supposedly factual and historical material over time.

[Ben Thornton]

I've found that I can't bring myself to read on paper any more - even when I want to (because I want to read something that I have in print, or can't get in ebook form). Not really sure why, tbh. So, no going back for me.

It's like suggesting that I'd go back to physical media for music - no chance!

[rxmom03]

I can't imagine it being a short-term craze just because of the conveniences ereaders offer. For myself, I have a double whammy. I have almost reached the magical age of 50 and need reading glasses and really good light to read a book. Also I have type II diabetes (not controlled as well as it should be at the moment) and my vision goes blurry at times because of that.
For me, it is so much easier to read from either my NC or my Nook Touch--I will never give up on ereading!

Mary

[alansplace]

i sure hope not, imho, the convenience is too great and offsets any drawbacks and complaints that i've heard or read about that people always seem to come up with.

[pidgeon92]

I can't think of any good reason to read a paper book again. I have hundreds of ebooks in my personal library, and my public library keeps adding more and more ebooks.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by alansplace

i sure hope not, imho, the convenience is too great and offsets any drawbacks and complaints that i've heard or read about that people always seem to come up with.

You can't get the genie back in the bottle.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by Graham Coulson

BUT… is it just a short-term craze? … Will the mania cool? … Will a growing number of current devotees slip back to increasingly reading paper books, ultimately to then consign their once beloved e-reader to the recycling dump?

This is like asking if paper is a short-term craze and will people go back to using stone tablets.

[replica145]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

This is like asking if paper is a short-term craze and will people go back to using stone tablets.

I do miss borrowing books to make a rubbing.

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by alansplace

i sure hope not, imho, the convenience is too great and offsets any drawbacks and complaints that i've heard or read about that people always seem to come up with.

Originally Posted by crich70

You can't get the genie back in the bottle.

what they said!

This does not mean that I have abandoned paper books altogether.

All series started in paperback form will be continued in paperback form and I will still make the occasional used book purchase. As for stand alone books, however, the paperback price will have to not only be less than the e-book price, but it will have to be a book that I want or have to read right now.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

This is like asking if paper is a short-term craze and will people go back to using stone tablets.

Or if people will stop using computers and go back to typewriters!

[HistoryWes]

I'm going back to paper... Then I'm selling my car to get a horse and buggy, and replacing my ipod witha wind-up Victorolla.

[Apache]

I used to travel for a living in the mid to late 80"s. I would have killed for an ereader back then. Flying with a suitcase full of books was a pain.
Apache

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Graham Coulson

BUT… is it just a short-term craze? … Will the mania cool? … Will a growing number of current devotees slip back to increasingly reading paper books, ultimately to then consign their once beloved e-reader to the recycling dump? Not me, I hear you cry!

I doubt it. People have been reading off devices for a long time already. But only once the e-ink screens became affordable, did the general public start to notice it. And about everybody I spoke to/chatted with, mentioned that reading a pbook was something they would avoid, if they could help it.

It has gathered a momentum that can't be stopped. Even if the publishers would decide, en masse, to stop producing ebooks, the "scene" is now so advanced, that most people would know where else to find their ebooks.

[Ron.]

I never really read paper books, I can count on one hand the number of paper books I have read. Driving 70+ miles to a Barnes & Noble only to see they don't have the book I want or going online and getting the book I want within seconds ? My library has never had a book I wanted either, paper book were to much of a hassle to bother with.