The future of reading covers the Google Book Search story. It stresses the publisher industry will go through some major changes in the upcoming years as more books make their way to the digital realm. Can you read a good book from a Tablet PC? Here is one quote from the story.
She acknowledges, however, that there will always be a significant proportion of readers who will never want to abandon the pleasures of reading a physical book, regardless of technological advancements. And true enough. Who would ever want to exchange the uncomplicated pleasures of lying around the beach with a good book, no matter what the technocrats come up with?
"Despite various attempts, none of the hand-held book readers has been successful so far and it's too early to tell whether people (particularly people over, say, 30 years), will want to read novels or short stories on their mobile phones or Palm Pilots in large numbers, although these are both growing market segments," she says.
"However, as the Chinese and Indian economies develop and world demand for paper and fuel escalates, we can expect this to impact on book prices. Also, we know that the 'Y' generation is much more comfortable with all forms of electronic content than older generations, and we can expect them to be willing to seek out good-quality deep information online."
As a member of the Generation X crowd, I feel comfortable with both mediums. However, my children's generation and the one before it, will much more prone to reading books online via a electronic device. My kids love their books, but they also love their electronic toys.
I for one will continue to read my books, but look forward to the day where I can easily download any book wireless-ly to my handheld.
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