Future of Reading

Last month, Guardian Unlimited published an special report about the future of books. The quest for the report was:

The world of publishing stands on the cusp of the greatest innovation since Gutenberg. With cheap, portable electronic readers just around the corner, what is the future of the printed book?

The story revolves around the technological breakthroughs in the field of publishing and the fears of concerned publishers about the evolution of e-publishing. From a readers point of view it doesn't discusses exactly how people feel about reading books on digital screens.

Some five years ago some people had the same discussion on the PC Magazine forums. Reading their posts I felt that not much has changed during last five years. I often read books on my PC and I find a little less interesting then reading a book on bed or in the bath tub. May be a portable lite-weight e-reader will provide me with the freedom of taking my ebooks anywhere with me, but what about the joy of turning pages? How I'll feel the smell of my new book and get excited for reading it? Only time will tell but for me, I feel that it will take atleast a decade to change my reading habits completely.

Tags: books, ebooks, reading, publishing