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Originally Posted by fugazied
Well there are still some very obvious circumstances in which you don't want an expensive electronic device to read on, you want a disposable paper book (traveling, on the beach, staying in a place where you don't feel the device is safe).
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Another example is the large market for illustrated childrens books. You'd hardly want to give a small kid a fragile and potentially dangerous e-book in preference to a nice colourful pbook that can be thrown, chewed, scribbled on, ripped, etc and might well have pop-up panels and so on.
Cookbooks and 'coffee table' style books, where the size and clarity of illustrations are valued, also look safe for a while. There's also the consideration that people like giving physical books as gifts, and an e-file just isn't as easy to gift wrap....
I think that the extinction of pbooks simply won't happen. What will occur is a continuation of what happens anyway, which is a steady shift of market share across different delivery media, books fashions, and supplying companies. Some will fold, but others will develop viable niches.
Let's face it, most of us still use pens and paper as well as keyboards, acoustic instruments haven't been killed off by electric ones, and neither theatre, concerts, films, radio, TV etc were wiped out by the next development, despite the gloomy predictions at the time. Instead the market just shifted.
Books will be with us for a good while yet.
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