British author Joanne Trollope says that the predicted death of real books is exaggerated: “You can’t furnish a room with e-books”, quoth she. She has a point. Books are more attractive than other forms of media such as CDs, DVDs or VHS tapes.
These horrors were a transitory phase; and they are now all but extinct. In any case, they were never high on the wishlist of interior designers. Books, on the other hand, have an aura about them. Everyone likes a well-stocked bookcase or, even, a home library.
This is all well and good. Books will survive, if only as furnishing artefacts and curiosities, but the current publishing model is doomed. How long can a system of printing on paper, binding, distributing and attempting to sell from high-street stores continue in the face of the ebook revolution?
Not long. Sorry, Ms. Trollope. Your heart is in the right place but reality is that the vast majority of readers will soon be glued to a screen, not a book.