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Originally Posted by DiapDealer
And like I said, I think (and hope that) future readers will wonder why anyone ever cared how literary content got consumed.
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Anyone thinking of becoming a historian of libraries -- or of reading -- take note. Your career is toast
Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer
Paper's not going anywhere, and neither are ebooks.
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That does seem an obvious conclusion to be drawn from comparing earlier and later Pew studies.
But maybe eBook reading is just pausing temporarily. Consider:
Michael J. Klingensmith, the publisher and vice chairman of the forthcoming News Media Alliance, told the Times he estimates Sunday newspapers will be around "at least another 20 years" but "he wasn’t sure he could say the same for the rest of the week."
My guess is that paper books won't go the way of newspapers -- until eReader prices plummet world-wide.
The basic Kindle eReader is today US$79.99. This price is, I believe, ten dollars more than it was in 2013. And the functionality has AFAIK not improved. This may, by itself, explain why Pew finds eBook penetration to be stagnant. At some point (when eInk patents expire?), I expect reader prices to plummet to where it would make sense to buy an single-title eReader, and then throw it away (or recycle it). That could be the point where paper novels go the way of paper newspapers.