There’s been a lot of speculation around about the future of paper books. Some say they will disappear, but some people still swear that they will never get an ereader. Realistically I think it’s pretty safe to say that print books will never disappear entirely, just as live music and theatre haven’t disappeared with the advent of electronic performances. Children will still learn to read on paper books and picture books and non-fiction will always be around in print – books on gardening, cooking and art for example. Paper books may even become a luxury item for those with the space to house them & money to afford them. Old books will become more valuable as their kind becomes rarer.
However, if you’re reading fiction, it’s not a question on whether you’ll get an ereader but when. The trends that create the future are already here and the results will only be exacerbated as time goes on.
Here’s why you’ll end up getting an ereader even if you think you won’t
- You choice of titles in paper will become more limited than it already is, because
- your local bookshop will stock less fiction
- more brick and mortar book stores will close.
- Paper fiction books will become more expensive because publishers will sell less of them, so to cover the cost of a print run, they will have to raise the price.
- When you see your friends’ ereaders (assuming they have good ones) you’ll realise that they are better than you think they are and that
- they don’t use a backlit computer style screen and but something called e-ink that looks like a paper book and you can read it in the sun,
- you can comfortably curl up in bed with a good ebook,
- it really is good to be able to carry a huge book around with you in a very light slim volume and to always have something to read while you wait for appointments or to dip into while the cake cooks,
- the range of titles available to ebook readers is awesome, and ranges in length from short stories to epic series,
- buying a book in a few seconds without leaving home, any day or time of the week, really is terrific.
I keep hearing people saying, I love my new Kindle
There’s a whole new world of reading out there. When are you going to join it?
As a Kindle owner (close to a year, now) and avid reader, and staunch realist, I have to agree that eBooks will overtake paper books, and rather sooner than many foot-draggers think.
You’re right about the cost of paper books, and the (almost) zero cost of warehousing eBooks. eBooks are just about 100% profit (minus, of course, the pittance given to the author).
I also agree about the rarefying of paper books. As the so-called brick and mortar books close, their place will be taken up by Used Book Stores, and the cost of Used Books will go nowhere but up.
Lastly, the biggest reason eReaders will take over is because the die-hard “I only read paper” people will die off. (Yeah, I know, dirty word, but there you have it).
Think about how few people you know who either do not have a computer, or do not know how to use one? The die-hards, the “I don’t like computers” people, or the “I don’t understand computers” people got old, and died.
I have learned by hard experience at least ONE thing: No matter how loud you yell at the river, no matter how you posture, curse and gesture obscenely, the river will not change its direction for you.
Great comment, Richard, and I love the river analogy. I hadn’t thought about second hand book stores, but yes, they will survive because they’ll be curiosities and cheap enough (until they become rare) to compete with ebooks.
I never thought I’d be an eReader, but, alas, I have to eat my own words. I’m too stingy to go out and buy one of those fantastic devices you list above — the ones that don’t make you have sore eyes like all other electronic devices that you stare at for too long — but I read on my iPhone. I figure it was there, I’d be getting reaaalllyyy cheap books and it would widen the range I’d have availability to.
Well. It was the best decision. I don’t think paper books will disappear either, or even be a ‘luxury’, because there’s nothing more thrilling than holding a new book in your hands and opening to the first page. (A flick of your finger isn’t quite the same.)
If anyone reading this is wondering what to get me for Xmas, you read my mind! thank you! I’d love a Kindle eReader! No more sore and squinty eyes for meee!
I hope you get your ereader. Greys online have Kindles for $99 at the moment. It’s the cheapest you’ll get any reader here and they’re the best quality, so give heavy hints to your special others, but they are limited stock as they’re reconditioned ones (look like new though).
Hi Tahlia, I definitely am an ereader convert, and moving as much as I do, I know the blessings of having fewer book boxes to carry … 🙂
Congrats also on your ebook release (will download after this)! And on the topic – in Germany, the paper book is still very much preferred over the ebook, with quite a slow uptake. Main reason are the by law regulated book prices and that publishers are selling ebooks for only few Euros less than the paper version. Still, the trend is clear and I think that the future will see a co-existence of both worlds for the time being. “Our” generation still loves the smell and the haptic sensations of a paper book. Our favourite books we will still want to physically have in our hands and up there in the shelves.
The rest will be consumed over the ereader.
Australia is still behind the US in ebook consumption too, kindles have only just come on the market here now.
Reblogged this on Papel Timbrado and commented:
Texto sensato sobre um assunto que já virou a discussão do sexo dos anjos por aqui. Batalha sem vitoriosos, mas ganhamos ao ler o texto dessa autora.
I agree, I don’t think the paper book market will disappear. I’ve had my Nook for around a year now, and I still go out and purchase physical books if they look *really* interesting or if the e-book was lots of fun. Just like some books I like to read all the time (The Hobbit for example), I’ll probably purchase on e-book just for the convenience. Really it’s just another means of reading, and how can people complain about that? If anything I think it’s making more books accessible to folks who wouldn’t be able to afford them before.
Great post by the way!
Thnnks for your comment. The books are cheaper, yes, but only after you’ve bought the ereader. I think that it’s only now that Amazon has a Kindle for less than $100 (for US citizens anyway) that this will be more of a factor.
I haven’t yet bought one (or a smart phone), but I know the time is coming. And if I succeed in attracting a traditional agent and “paper” press, I will want my books available as downloads, too. But I am of a generation that will always appreciate the sensory experience that is paper….
Funny, about the sensory experience. I don’t miss it at all, but I htought it would. My kindle is lighter and the button feels nice for flipping pages.