How do you feel?

I agree with you, PhilipTroy. I think the world is going to be a world without the printed word. I have several friends who are proud supporters and carriers of the new Sony Bookreader. I refused to buy one. I love the feel of the pages between my fingers, the smell, the very presence of a book....When you hold a book and read the written word it is part of the whole expirence.
Thank you for starting this group.

You know that sounds like a Bloody awful Dystopian World to live a lot like Ray Bradbury's book Fahrenheit 451 or when Hitler was burning books in Berlin during World War II. Who wants to live in a Dystopian Future like that? Certainly not me. I would have to join a Secret Society just like the one in Fahrenheit 451 however I don't think I could memorize a whole book word for word like they did. A World like that would put all the Libraries, Librarians and their Staffs, Publishing Houses. Book Stores, Book Jobbers and everyone else too completely out of business and also an awful lot of people out of work too. A World without books would be an awful place to live in. I too love the way a book feels and smells and being able to turn the paper pages too. I think there will always be a need to have the printed word Published in paper form. For one, I know I don't want to spend 3 hours or more staring in front of a computer or lap top screen reading an 800 plus page book or Stephen King's 1100 plus page book, IT. I love having books on the shelves of my book cases being able to take them down whenever I want to read or reread them, shift the books or take them all off and put some different books on my book shelves. I can browse around for hours in a Book Store like Border's or a Second Hand Book Store. Long Live the Book!! Viva La Book!!

Beatles1964

Let's have a moment of silence. Amen. I couldn't agree with you more... Life would be very empty if all I had to read was a screen full of words..no I must have a book in hand...or several hundred on the shelves.

Ack. Sorry it's been so long since I've posted here. I've been out in the middle of North Carolina with no Wi-Fi :(

I'm glad you brought up Fahrenheit 451, because I considered that as well, Beatles. Sadly, when I got back to Lakewood, WA, I have discovered that some of my fears are justified. The Used Book Store I used to attend went out of business in the 2 weeks I was gone, and both the Walgreens and the PX near me have stopped carrying books because 'our distributors went out of business'.

I also wasn't aware that Sony did a book reader. I knew Kindle had one - as an Author, I received an email offering to host my book on their device. I declined, and got a VERY nasty email in response. They actually told me, word for word, "print is dead".

Anyway, I agree with you both. Give me a book over a Kindle/Sony Thing any day. I just picked up Anne Rice's Interview With the Vampire and I don't think it'd be the same on a screen.

-Philip Troy

Remember the early Television Age? They predicted the demise of Movies. Movies didn't vanish, they just reduced the number of outlets.
Now we have AMAZON. Perhaps it is more of a reason for the demise of the small bookstore. In large cities, and most are becoming larger, we have the printing equivalent of a movie Megaplex, the major bookstore; B&N, Borders Etc. This may not be the beginning of the End, but rather the end of the Beginning.

I simply CANNOT write without a word processor (I mean that quite literally). But as for reading, in a world where everything that can be digitised, has been, isn't it amazing that the ancient model of the paper book has never been bettered? Form = function in a perfect design.

I agree with you, Tid. The first books, technically, were scrolls, but I get the picture. Words on paper work - that's all there is to it. There is really no need to change it.
I will admit that things like the Kindle make STORING the books easier (300 books in the space of 1, etc.), but it's just not the same. Although the Kindle is a space-saving device, it destroys the simplicity and beauty of a book.

-PhilipTroy

I find the idea of instant access to a new book regardless of where I am and the obvious solution for the storage issues that books cause intriguing. I do however, like to share my books. Does anyone know if a book can be transferred (not copied) to another e-reader (same as lending a book) or to a personal computer for storage (like shelving a book and safeguarding against losing your whole library if you lose/break your e-reader)?

I have to admit that I too love the physical aspects of a book but they are bulky to store and after a while (okay, a long while) they don't smell so good and the pages fall out!

I think future upgrades they will accommodate pictures and will be in colour. Like all other technology I'm sure this is possible now but will be released progressively so that techies will spend more money with each upgrade. I'm going to wait and see what happens. Besides I have over 300 books taking up space that I haven't read yet!

Well, Borders is dead. That one shocked me. I've been inquiring in the B&N nearby and they say there's no sign of closing, but they're liquidating their employees at an alarming rate. Makes me wonder...