Yep the same thing happened with the VHS machine and the DVD player. New tech always starts out being expensive and the price goes down as it becomes a more common piece of technology. I also imagine that when books were first printed there were some who didn't think much of the media that was trying to replace the scroll. And before printed books there were also hand copied manuscripts that were so valuable their owners would literally chain them to their library tables so that guests wouldn't be able to 'borrow' them. In fact as far as how valuable books were back before printing goes there was a king of france (I think one of the louis's) who was considered wealthy because of his large library which contained some 24 books. Ebooks allow you to download more than that in a single evening (if you find a good supply of free books or have the $ to buy multiple ebooks). It's a matter of perspective I think. Eventually paper books will probably be found mostly in antique stores or museums.
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Originally Posted by meromana
Yes, I agree that price is probably one of the biggest reasons so many have not adopted the technology yet, but we know that will come down like a rocket. I'm plenty old enough to remember a time when calculators were a luxury item that cost hundreds of dollars, and still recall saving up for weeks to buy a "Walkman" (small portable radio with a headset for you young folks).
Sure, there will always be the latest and greatest expensive models for those on the cutting edge, but I have no doubt the future holds ereaders that will be offered free with the purchase of XYZ ebook package, just as we have now with cell phones and data cards. Or maybe the term "book" will come to mean a $5 electronic gadget you can buy in the corner drugstore, that just happens to have a bunch of digital files stored in it that display on its screen...
--Maria
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