Is the Book Dying? by Margaret Daley

I wrote this blog below almost five years ago and I'm still wondering the question: is the book dying? A lot has changed in that short time. Kindle has evolved into the Kindle Fire. We have the Nook and iPad now, too. We have tablets and iPhones to read books on. Best of all, the price for these devices has come down to where it is affordable for a lot of people. Writers now have a choice of going with a traditional publisher or self-publishing. The ebook share of books being sold is growing in the past few years rapidly. So what is the answer to the last question at the end of the blog?

Is the Book (Paperbacks, Hardbacks, Trade) Dying?

By Margaret Daley

For years we have been hearing people predicting that the book was dying—on its way out the door. In the future people will read books on the computer or some kind of handheld device like the new Kindle at Amazon (which I do think is neat but way too expensive). I do think those devices will gain in popularity, but at least for the near future the book is alive and well—holding its own.

I read an article in an airline magazine on my way to Fort Lauderdale about a project that Microsoft was involved in.  It's the high school of the future. The library doesn't have books that you can hold in your hand. Everything is on the computer and all the students have their own laptops. They don't have textbooks.

For the most part things are going along okay, but the students and teachers are complaining there are no books around. They must research on the Internet. Teachers go home and spends hours adapting work from the Internet to present to their students. They miss not having textbooks to supplement their teaching.

Now I don't know about you but I can't sit at the computer all day and especially read on top of that a story on my computer. I think my eyes get tired from the light on the computer. Don't get me wrong. I love my computer and what it can do, but I also love a good old-fashioned book to hold at the beach. So I'm hoping there is a place for both in the future.

What do you see happening in the next ten or twenty years?

Check out Margaret's interview at The Romance Reviews!