Are e-books the future?

[Alexander Turcic]

Do you think e-books are the future or will traditional book reading remain to be the name of the game, is the question asked in an interesting forum discussion started over at PalmAddicts.

I believe that p-books and e-books will always co-exist. There is no reason to abandon p-books, unless we run out of trees. Both have their intrinsic advantages and disadvantages and it always depends on the situation whether you prefer one over the other.

[Chaos]

There's just something about paper books that makes them fun to read, more so than ebooks, in my mind. The physical sensation of the paper, and turning the pages, maybe.

Ebooks have their place, but paper books do too. I think ebooks are great for textbooks, references, and that kind of thing, but I greatly prefer paper for novels, comics, and anything more fictional.

[Laurens]

As far as fiction is concerned, I think audiobooks may very well become bigger than e-books. (Maybe they already are.) I don't have any real arguments to back this up, it's just a hunch.

I was skeptical of audiobooks at first, but after reading about them in a NYT article and listening to a few books over the past few weeks, I must say I've completely turned around. As long as the book is narrated well, I find myself much more able to focus on and enjoy the story itself.

[hacker]

Let's not forget that paper books don't always require more trees, and with the way technology is going (serial e-paper already exists, and looks/acts/feels just like a two-fold piece of newspaper), we probably won't have to keep cutting trees to produce books.

It'll be the best of both worlds, actually... faux paper that is displaying an electronic book on what looks, feels, turns and acts just like real paper.

[rmeister0]

Remember also that most trees cut down to make paper today were grown for that purpose.

Audio books make sense - you really shouldn't be reading anything if you're driving the car during the morning commute, and reading while you're jogging is tough at best. Unfortunately, radio drama is a dead art form in this country, radio is homogenous crap, and music is too easy to tune out. That's why I think audiobooks are as popular as they are - all the benefits of "reading" but turns it into a passive activity.

I think e-books will eventually serve a few specific niches: periodicals which are expected to have a short life and paperbacks. To put it less delicately, 'disposable' reading you aren't expecting to keep.

For things you really want to keep, a well-made hardcover will last a heck of a lot longer than the e-book format du jour.

[Antoine of MMM]

They will probably co-exist for a while. If digi tech gets as cheap and viewable as paper, then, there is a chance for a shift. But what I hear most, and will probably hear forever, is that emotional attachment people have to paper. Its a 3000+ year old technology, it wont go away that easily.

I love reading books on my PDA. I don't miss paper books at all. In fact I dare say that I probably wouldn't read nearly as much as I do if it weren't for ebooks. I don't have the time to curl up in a big easy chair and just read the afternoon away. I usually read while I'm waiting for something ie: Dr.s Office, between classes, restaurants, etc... I love always having in excess of 20 novels in my purse! There's no way that I could carry that many paper books around and not grow to hate them.

Not to mention that most of my college text books are available online and with plucker - I can now read them on my PDA as well - This is MUCH easier than lugging around a 20lb Chemistry Text. My grades have improved because I actually read the text more.

I don't know if ebooks are truly the future... But I sincerely hope that they are! I would hate to see this medium disappear.