Books going the way of the Dodo?

This Christmas, for the first time ever, e-books outsold real books at Amazon.com. 

Jeff Bezos dropped another bomb; the Kindle – Amazon’s proprietary reader – became the most gifted item ever in Amazon’s history. The Kindle is currently estimated to have a 60% market share.

E-reading is growing. And it’s growing FAST.

Despite initial skepticism Bezos has now established a tradition of reshaping the way we buy and sell books. First Amazon swept half the world’s bricks and mortar book stores off the map. Now the Amazonian torrent is about to wipe out our antiquated idea that books are supposed to be printed on paper.

So, are books bound to go the way of the dodo?
Will books become dusty relics of our past?
Will our kids only know of them as yellowing museum pieces?

Not just yet. Here’s three reasons why: pictures, pop-ups and presents.

Pictures. Everybody loves appreciate big, colourful illustrations. One of my most prized recents purchases was a reprint of Joan Blaeu’s Atlas Maior. A superb recreaction by Taschen of the 1665 original. This book is BIG, colourful and will keep you entertained on a rainy sunday afternoon.

Pop-ups. Just for kids? No-way. Check out this spectacular little gem; it’s Marion Bataille’s superb: ABC3D.

Presents. Books are great gift that make both the giver and the receiver look smart. For this reason E-Books make horrible gifts for the simple reason they can’t be gift-wrapped. Hence the people you give them to can’t unwrap them in front of the friends and family.

Pictures, Pop-ups and Presents; I’d like to see a Kindle try that. Though some printed media are undoubtedly on their way out (newspapers, magazines, manuals spring to mind) real books still have a future ahead of them.

Now how to convince my wife to let me put in four extra yards of bookshelf space?

3 Replies to “Books going the way of the Dodo?”

  1. No way, no more bookshelves!

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