I have subscribed to a weekly magazine for some time and receive it on my Kindle. Just recently I bought a printed magazine - an actual hard copy of a quality monthly - and have rediscovered the pleasure of having a printed text in my hands. The magazine looks good, feels good, and I can, at a glance, flick through it and see what's coming without the rest of it disappearing. It's a so much more pleasurable experience than reading a text on Kindle.

I got my first Kindle three or four years ago, as I was running out of shelf space and couldn't justify, at my age (68) accumulating more and more books to put on shelves. And the convenience of Kindle is undeniable. Not only can I carry any number of publications with me in a small tablet wherever I go, I can browse the online bookshop from my chair and look at samples of the books or periodicals before deciding whether to buy at a touch of the screen. I also find it physically difficult to browse shelves in a bookshop now, and Kindle removes that problem. Yet browsing in bookshops was for many years something I really enjoyed doing.

I read recently that Amazon now sells 114 e-books for every 100 printed books. I know that some prominent booksellers are going out of business (Borders, where I live). Will bookshops become a thing of the past? Or will they specialize in art and design books, because imagery and graphics is something that e-books simply don't reproduce well? Will printed books become luxury items? When I go to people's homes and offices, will I be faced with anonymity and sterility because there will be no books on the walls of even well-read people?

Perhaps there is hope. When Newsweek closed recently, Tina Brown, the editor-in-chief, blamed the internet, but Time, The Economist and the New Yorker have grown their sales and are doing quite well. And so far "no one has yet succeeded in creating a profitable internet-only news organization (the Huffington Post doesn't count, since it aggregates much of its material from blogs and other sites)." (Owen Matthews, "Who Killed Newsweek?" The Spectator, 29 Dec 2012)

I'm not going to go back to buying books off the shelf. I'm retired and have a limited income, and I have so many books on my shelves that warrant re-reading, but I might take out a subscription to a couple of quality monthlies, just so I can have the pleasure of receiving an attractive and substantial publication in the mail, and can sit down and read it as though it is something "real", something that I can see and feel and relate to in the personal kind of way that I have always related to the books I've purchased over the past 55 years.

I went to "The Big Bad Wolf Sale" in KL - claiming to be the biggest book sale in the world - quite possibly it was, that weekend - and bought about thirty books with the family. I find that I can concentrate better on a paper book, though perhaps reading on a kindle is less distracting than reading on a PC.

And I have to say that driving out to a place I'd never been before, getting parked, humping four bags of books back to the car was a more entertaining adventure, and more fun for all the family, than surfing the Amazon web site.

SC

I am a dinosaur. I still read paper books (some hard-backs, but mainly paperbacks) in preference to e-books.

I have considered an e-reader, as I do a lot of reading in bed and a hard-back is dificult to manage. If my wife was with me all the time, I may have to use it, as keeping a bedside light on, while someone is trying to sleep may lead to separate beds and other such horrors. But she spends time in the Philippines and time with me, plus shift work in England. So I leave the light on.

I use the local public library, rather than buy books, as my own library is over a thousand books in the UK, another thousand in the Philippines and I abandoned a lot when I left Thailand. So borrowing is better than buying. If there is no free liobrary in your neck of the woods, then think about advertising around for people who are prepared to loan books / borrow books on a limted time basis. Make new friends that way. Lots of old folks have similar tastes, we were all brought up in one of the better times when literature was a good thing. The rubbish available now, catering to the semi-literate hoi-polloi that are the target of the e-readers, deserves to be transient.

Now I'm back to my Thomas Hardy for the evening.

I am a dinosaur. I still read paper books (some hard-backs, but mainly paperbacks) in preference to e-books.

I have considered an e-reader, as I do a lot of reading in bed and a hard-back is dificult to manage. If my wife was with me all the time, I may have to use it, as keeping a bedside light on, while someone is trying to sleep may lead to separate beds and other such horrors. But she spends time in the Philippines and time with me, plus shift work in England. So I leave the light on.

I use the local public library, rather than buy books, as my own library is over a thousand books in the UK, another thousand in the Philippines and I abandoned a lot when I left Thailand. So borrowing is better than buying. If there is no free liobrary in your neck of the woods, then think about advertising around for people who are prepared to loan books / borrow books on a limted time basis. Make new friends that way. Lots of old folks have similar tastes, we were all brought up in one of the better times when literature was a good thing. The rubbish available now, catering to the semi-literate hoi-polloi that are the target of the e-readers, deserves to be transient.

Now I'm back to my Thomas Hardy for the evening.

I hadn't realised you were quite that old... Thomas Hardy is a bit before my time

SC

But TH is still a damned good read.

I borrow two or three books from the local library every 10 days or so, but also re-read my own books from time-to-time.

Things from Sir Walter Scott to Salman Rushdie I buy. Kellerman/Lee Child/Patricia Cornwell/Bernard Cornwell and many others I borrow.

Your doing well reading Sir Walter Scott.....talk about dry???? Gawd.

I am a dinosaur. I still read paper books (some hard-backs, but mainly paperbacks) in preference to e-books.

I have considered an e-reader, as I do a lot of reading in bed and a hard-back is dificult to manage. If my wife was with me all the time, I may have to use it, as keeping a bedside light on, while someone is trying to sleep may lead to separate beds and other such horrors. But she spends time in the Philippines and time with me, plus shift work in England. So I leave the light on.

I use the local public library, rather than buy books, as my own library is over a thousand books in the UK, another thousand in the Philippines and I abandoned a lot when I left Thailand. So borrowing is better than buying. If there is no free liobrary in your neck of the woods, then think about advertising around for people who are prepared to loan books / borrow books on a limted time basis. Make new friends that way. Lots of old folks have similar tastes, we were all brought up in one of the better times when literature was a good thing. The rubbish available now, catering to the semi-literate hoi-polloi that are the target of the e-readers, deserves to be transient.

Now I'm back to my Thomas Hardy for the evening.

Good ideas here, Humphrey Bear. I've also joined the local library since coming back to Oz, and currently have Hilary Mantel's "Wolf Hall" out. It was the 2009 Man Booker prizewinner. Very good so far.

I like Hardy, too. I re-read Jude the Obscure a couple of years ago and found it quite disturbing. It stayed with me for a while after I'd finished it.

I also like to keep up with popular fiction. Enjoyed The Hunger Games and The Millennium Trilogy, but found Fifty Shades of Grey juvenile and repetitive. If this is "mummy porn" some of the mummies need to grow up.

I own a few bookstores so am not unbiased, but if it is entertaining crap - like Grisham or Lee Childs - I don't mind the ebook version. If it is something special - like A Clockwork Orange, Catch 22, The Stranger, One Flew Over the Cookoo's Nest, etc -, I want a nice copy to keep for when I want to read it again. Just being able to access the words on an electronic screen seems very empty to me.

I can't stand "browsing" books online unless I am looking for a specific title. I have always loved looking though a library or bookshop and discovering something that I have never heard of that looks interesting enough to try over the popular titles. IMO, that will almost never happen online and I think that publishing will be hurt by it as time goes by. My honest opinon is that ebooks will eventually herald an era where a lot less people will read for pleasure. Being able to watch any TV program or movie online whenever one wants will not help either.

If e-books ever completely replace paper books we are in trouble in the long term. With text on paper there is no fear of the format being left behind like technology (think audio cassettes, or video tapes). If we go all electronic, we're just one good electro-magnetic pulse away from erasing it all.

I understand the appeal of a physical book, and it's probably still my preferred reading method. However I quickly got hooked on having an entire library available on my phone or tablet wherever I went.

If e-books ever completely replace paper books we are in trouble in the long term. With text on paper there is no fear of the format being left behind like technology (think audio cassettes, or video tapes). If we go all electronic, we're just one good electro-magnetic pulse away from erasing it all.

Yes, I worry about that, too. I also keep a personal diary on my hard drive. As a history buff, I know how important diaries and letters are as primary sources. What will happen if all the word files and emails disappear into cyberspace?

I understand the appeal of a physical book, and it's probably still my preferred reading method. However I quickly got hooked on having an entire library available on my phone or tablet wherever I went.

This is a major advantage, indeed. Hard to beat. Treasured books, like my copies of the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads, I have both in hard copy and on my Kindle.

Books are words. Words make pictures in the mind. It doesn't really matter where the words are stored.

If e-books ever completely replace paper books we are in trouble in the long term. With text on paper there is no fear of the format being left behind like technology (think audio cassettes, or video tapes). If we go all electronic, we're just one good electro-magnetic pulse away from erasing it all.

Electronic storage of the written word also enables manipulation of content to be much easier also

Books are words. Words make pictures in the mind. It doesn't really matter where the words are stored.

I disagree. Books provide a visceral experience which is difficult to replicate - the aged plain binding, the smell of mould, and cracked and yellowing paper.

In the end, I threw out my Don Camillo Omnibus, for fear that the mould would spread to other books

SC

Books are words. Words make pictures in the mind. It doesn't really matter where the words are stored.

I don't know. I much prefer seeing the Mona Lisa hanging in a frame somewhere (preferably the Louvre in Paris) than an electronical representation on my Ipad.

Books are words. Words make pictures in the mind. It doesn't really matter where the words are stored.

I don't know. I much prefer seeing the Mona Lisa hanging in a frame somewhere (preferably the Louvre in Paris) than an electronical representation on my Ipad.

I love written books.

When can I claim my free Duke's pizza?

Oh....we bought a book from you last week.....your staff mimed something to us about where you were.....lots of arm raising but your secret is safe with me....

New BOOK technology for you!

Once books become rare everyone will want them again

Books are words. Words make pictures in the mind. It doesn't really matter where the words are stored.

I don't know. I much prefer seeing the Mona Lisa hanging in a frame somewhere (preferably the Louvre in Paris) than an electronical representation on my Ipad.

I love written books.

When can I claim my free Duke's pizza?

Oh....we bought a book from you last week.....your staff mimed something to us about where you were.....lots of arm raising but your secret is safe with me....

He was on the chicken farm?

Oups, double link in my previous post - sorry.

Thanks in advance if a mod can fix this.

Once books become rare everyone will want them again

LPs are becoming popular again with some people. Personally, I don't miss the scratching noise.

Hard copy books will become - or already are - a status symbol...a by-product of becoming rare as you say. As a part of home decoration, a bookshelf will never be replaced by a hard drive.

your staff mimed something to us about where you were.....lots of arm raising but your secret is safe with me....

Watching TV/using the stationary bicycle/napping upstairs?

For myself, I read paper based books. This is simply because I am in the book business and I have a huge supply at the ready available to me. I believe that when I leave move from this business I will access books electronically.

One thing I wonder about is how my reading habits will change when I move to ebooks

Now, a lot of reading is guided by what is readily available. Often I will be interested in a book, but I just wait till I see it cross my path before I read it which could be in one week or in two years.

With an e reader I will have instantaneous access to whatever books I want to read. I could see myself actually reading more, and maybe purchasing (or downloading free) more than i would if i had to physically buy it or purchase online through ebay etc

Generally speaking, there is no doubt about a big shift away from paper based books. I feel this is due to 3 main reasons: Price, Convenience, Storage.

On occasion I have thought that ebooks might increase the level of reading: easy/instant access to books, cheaper for the consumer, cheaper to produce for the publisher, more convenient, less storage needed by the consumer, portability, ability to change narrative based on readers feedback, speed to market for publishers, ease of use for sight impaired and people with arthritis who find it difficult to hold the larger books, the list goes on...

Thinking about it more though, I don’t know if it will. Some interesting years ahead

It is my opinion that as soon as the book industry (paper books) has been decimated by ebooks, the prices on ebooks will increase and there will be no more "lending" to other readers (other than on the same device) and other gimmicks to compete with paper books. I remember when the giant book stores moved in to big cities and gave great discounts on everything. They said that they would always do this because they got such a good price buying in huge quantities that it only made sense. Of course, as soon as they put the smaller stores out of business the prices went back up and most of the discounts were gotten rid of.

It is my opinion that as soon as the book industry (paper books) has been decimated by ebooks, the prices on ebooks will increase and there will be no more "lending" to other readers (other than on the same device) and other gimmicks to compete with paper books. I remember when the giant book stores moved in to big cities and gave great discounts on everything. They said that they would always do this because they got such a good price buying in huge quantities that it only made sense. Of course, as soon as they put the smaller stores out of business the prices went back up and most of the discounts were gotten rid of.

Im not sure how publishers/suppliers will be able to limit the flow of ebooks from one device to another. Music and Movies have failed and there is always someone coming along providing the necessary software to be able to convert file type between devices and formats

I had a quick squiz at the top 100 for Amazon Kindle Store (free and paid)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/digital-text/ref=pd_dp_ts_kstore_1/179-1799406-8025424

Hard to see how new book shops, let alone secondhand book shops, can compete with those prices

I love reading on my Barnes & Noble NOOK. But everytime this message pops up i hate it: "Battery is running low. Please connect the charger to your NOOK..."

Loading the battery is such an annoying thing that brings you back to the real world the hard way. Other than that i can not complain. My ebook reader helps feeding my brain while being far away from my homecountry. E-paper is not compareable to reading on a normal monitor. Not perfect, but much better.

ebook, kindle = YUCK²

ebook, kindle = YUCK²

Ha ha - at last a reason to adopt a career as a burglar.... suddenly, my life has goals, targets....

Probably prudent to moe out of the lean-to, after posting this

SC