12.05.07
Kindle is a “nice try” but books will remain
Kindle a nice try but a real book is a more solid value
– Houston Chronicle2
[snip]While the idea of being able to carry a couple hundred books around
in your pocket (and it would have to be a mighty big pocket in the
Kindle’s case) is attractive, people have a physical and emotional
attachment to books. The Kindle is just one plastic device, and while
it can do cool things, it cannot compete with the aesthetic appeal of a
full bookshelf.
But just as radio didn’t kill print, TV didn’t kill radio and the
Internet won’t kill off any other media, e-books and “real” books will
co-exist, side-by-side, in the long run. E-books have a long way to go,
but eventually, they’ll become as friendly and as useful as their
wood-pulp-and-ink predecessors.[snip]
Footnotes
2 = article may expire in a few weeks