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I think the pbooks will still be around for a while yet. Maybe they will downsize on actual stored inventory i.e. books on shelves and switch more to POD books, but not everything is going to be in ebook format anytime soon. Eleanor Cameron's books about the Mushroom planet (I read them as a kid) for example isn't in ebook format and may not be for some time yet, so I think the old bookstores have some mileage yet on them. Ebooks are more convenient in some ways, but they are a different experience to pbooks as well. In the end though you can't hold back progress. The U.S. Post Office is finding that out now days. They are using a 19th century model for mail delivery in the 21st century. Back then sending a letter and getting a reply back a couple weeks later (for non vital news) was fast. Now days it's slow. Back in 1988 when I was working at Summer Camp we had an international scout from Sri Lanka. It took 6 weeks to get mail from the camp to his home and the season was only 6 weeks long. Now days he could send an e-mail and get an answer back within a matter of hours (making allowances for time zone differences). Likewise bookstores will have to change their business model just as publishers will.
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