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Independent bookstores are going to have to learn to coexist with e-books. Among those who read books, there are those who read only paper books, those who read only e-books and those who read both. The first two groups don't matter. Those who read only paper books are already customers, and those who read only e-books aren't going to be customers. No amount of berating them will change this. But those who read both are potential customers. Berating them simply drives away potential sales.
Bookstore owners are, of course, free to sneer at customers who only give part of their business to them. Doing so hurts their sales, but that's their concern. The bookstore owners who learn to coexist with e-books will have a much better chance of surviving than those who simply berate e-reader owners. Paper books will make up a smaller share of the book market, but aren't likely to go away. Independent stores will be better positioned to meet the demand than will the big box stores, but they can only respond to the market, not dictate it.
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