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I can imagine someone way back when complaining about stories being written down on clay tablets rather than being passed on by word of mouth like they were supposed to be. And of course then someone complained about things being written on scrolls rather than clay tablets, and in manuscript form rather than scrolls. Each development seems to enable the text to become more accessible and easier to transcribe. Not so long ago you had to physically go to a bookshop to find your book, and if they didn't have it in stock you either had to special order it or hope you could find a copy at a second hand bookstore. Now you can go on a site like Amazon or Smashwords, find your book and have it in hand within a few seconds, and though there are sometimes geographical restrictions you can be just about anywhere and find at least something to read. So I don't see e-reading as making a negative impact myself. The media changes but books like Dracula, Treasure Island, The Time Machine etc. are still the same in content, and you still read them one word at a time whether on an eink screen or on paper. You can't stop progress.
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