[sound2man]

As a book collector, I love print editions of books, but digital books are inevitably going to become more prevelent. And while I don't think paper books will be going away any time soon, ebooks will take their toll on bookstores.

Just as digital music (arguably) has not hurt record sales, it has (again arguably) had its toll on bricks and mortar music stores. It is a way of life, and love it or hate it, it is inevitable.

[frossie]

As a book collector, I love print editions of books,

I hear you, but that doesn't apply to all the books I own. If I could swap at no cost to me all my physical books with idealised e-books (say on a 100% faithful reproduction DRM-free e-reader), I would probably only keep physical copies of 10% of my hoard.

[run4yourlives]

There is a big difference between books and music/video. With books, it is not only the content but the medium that is part of the experience.

A paperback is lightweight, cheap, durable and independent of other resources. Most importantly, a book as an experience is a long, drawn out affair. Books take hours to enjoy, so it's of little importance how many I can carry at a time.

Music/movies have the opposite effect ~ they are shorter durations of entertainment, so the more I can carry, the more I can enjoy the experience. The major advantage of digital music is that I can carry my whole library with me in my pocket. Even if I could do this with my bookcase, there is little reason for me to do so. This defeats one of the major advantages of kindle.

I don't disagree with anything you say, but I don't think the death of the book will happen any time in our lifetime, or our children's lifetime to be honest.

[gcheong]

It depends on how you read. I am often reading several books at any one time (obviously not simultaneously) so having the ability to read one book for a while and then effortlessly switch to another at any time/location is a big plus for me. Having had the kindle dx for a while now, I find it pretty much equivalent to reading a paper book and I don't miss the paper versions at all.

[jfornear]

I do the same. I read easier books that don't require in-depth understanding on the iPhone Kindle app, and I go ahead and buy books that I know I'm going to have to look back to again and again.