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Originally Posted by MaggieScratch
In another ten years or so, we might see a shift to the status being in having the latest and most expensive/nifty mobile phone/e-mail device and high-powered laptop. In which case, the execs will be doing all their own e-mail and communicating.
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We're seeing that now, with status fights because X has a bigger, fancier machine than Y, who wants one too. Never mind that X does stuff that
requires the bigger, fancier machine, and Y can just about manage reading and replying to email...
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To bring things back to the topic, I do feel that ebooks and pbooks can exist side by side. As I said earlier, I see some of the value in ebooks being that books never have to go out of print.
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They exist side by side, here. I have about 3,500 ebooks on my PDA. I have at least that many pbooks, a good chunk of which are hardcover. I don't buy pbooks to consume and toss. If I buy a book, I plan to
keep it, and if I accumulate dupes, or decide I no longer wish particular volumes, I find good homes for them.
Ebooks are splendid for reference, where I can use tools to look stuff up. They are handy for reading on the go, and I love having a large library in my pocket. They
won't replace my art, design, architecture, and photography collection, nor some of my other volumes, even if electronic copies were available.
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I also see a pushback because as ebooks become more accepted and easier to use, it will change the paradigm of publishing, which has needed a good kick in the pants for 20 years or so. I think the author will have more power in this new paradigm. At least I hope so.  But the publishers and booksellers, who have the power balance in their favor now, will fight against it. They would be smarter to try to adapt and get in early IMO.
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At least a few publishers are beginning to get it, witness Baen and Tor. Booksellers have been battered for a while now, and the reasons have nothing to do with ebooks. They are being affected by consolidation. The smaller independent bookseller is a vanishing breed. They are being squeezed by the big chains and the "club" retailers. In the US, Costco and Sam's Club are now major forces in bookselling. The smaller independent booksellers simply can't match the pricing the big outfits can offer.
The independents I know of locally are either in a specialized niche, like travel books or children's books, or are in areas where a branch of a big chain hasn't plunked down a store yet.
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Dennis