Why Books Are Here to Stay

For anyone who's worried about the demise of real books, this is a must read:

Why Books Are Here to Stay

Another post on the same blog asked "Is It Really Books We Love?" (or just the words themselves.) This is my reply:


I absolutely love books themselves. The feel of the glossy cover, the smell of new ink on the pages, the sound of the pages being turned, the way the pages and corners soften with time and use. I love being able to toss one in my handbag to take along with me while I wait in X location for Y person. I like the fact that if a book gets wet or dropped... no worries! I can pick it up, dry it out, and it's still just fine. I can even read in the bathtub if I want.

An expensive electronic device like a Kindle is going to give me headaches from looking at the screen. If I drop it or get it wet, bye-bye hundreds of dollars! And it's not just the one book that is lost, but all the books stored on it. I won't be able to "read" until it is replaced.

I think that books - real, physical, paper books - will eventually become luxury items, and all the poor slobs who can't afford them will have Kindles.