Considering the future of books

We got quite a bit of mail regarding last week’s question on the future of physical, paper books. This came in from Jim Melko.

“I have stacks and shelves of books in my house. But as I’ve aged, I’ve been forced to resort to Kindle books for larger text size. As a result, I spend a lot less because Kindles are significantly cheaper. Will paper books disappear? I doubt it, but as demand decreases, prices will increase significantly. Too, younger generations raised on electronic devices will probably prefer the Kindle, so as the generations advance, demand will plummet.

“I suspect books will follow a similar path to vinyl records, although the simple pleasure of paper may not compare in popularity to actual quality of sound. In at least one generation, I’m sure we’ll see major publishers abandon paper as their primary product format, to the extent that lesser titles may not be available on paper at all.”

And vinyl is making a comeback with younger music listeners, too — something I never would have predicted. Your thoughts? Email rrollins@coxohio.com.

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