http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/does-the-brain-like-e-books/

The general feeling is that the jury is still out because ereaders are in their infancy, but there are several concerns that I would go along with, ereaders, monitors or whatever. And I still want paper in my hands that I can write on, dog ear the corners of, watch the pages as they transfer from one side to the other. Sorry, but I really don’t want ebooks. At present I must buy a hundred and fifty or so books a year, but I won’t buy any if digital is all that’s on offer. I know I’m not alone in feeling this, and that others with similar responses are also heavy book buyers. I can only keep urging the publishing world to satisfy the customers it has got, not chase elusive unknown customers it hasn’t.

That said, I do think it will be a long while before paper goes away, because for one thing technology is not yet able to replace it as far as color and variations in page size. That day might come, but until then, I think both are viable.

Thanks for the comment and for the perspective!
Ravenbooks uses Twitter very effectively. The Edingburgh bookshop has an excellent web presence.

I agree that it’ll be the entrepreneurs that bring the change and succeed. On the other hand, one has to accept sometimes that innovation has a second edge obsolescence. We have few blacksmiths these days and no cartwrights that I know of.

Sometimes change passes a tradition held sacred for centuries by and there is no saving it, It may hurt but holding back the sea is a task not to be relished.

All the best,
Eoin

Thanks for your comment and a very excellent New Year to you! I love and use print exactly as you describe.

I don’t know the science but I suspect this loss of concentration is the effect of adaption. I should really do more reading in that direction.

I hope it will improve as younger native screen readers speed ahead of us in their capacities.

I suspect that books will exist in print forever. More expensive than now and possible more beautiful (a trend which has already begun) but digital offers many advantages that we overlook at our peril.
Eoin

I use a note keeping tool called VoodooPad for everything I sketch down digitally. I try to set 3 monthly goals for reading (I buy so many sometimes it helps to remember what I wanted to read two months ago).

Eoin

The bookshop is dead – “just selling books isn’t going to be enough for most bookstores to survive.” Long live the bookshop.

The world of bookselling has changed irrevocably because the whole world has been transformed by the internet. One of the results of bookreading is that so many people are literate today, they have learned to look abroad. The local community is no longer a local community. The bookshop of the future is being designed as we speak. Bookshop entrepreneurs are trying out new things. Any shop that complacently expects customers to carry on as before is stupidly led.

I don’t know enough about the US market. This recession will shake out lots of businesses that have had their day. This is a good time for alert and inspired booksellers to link better with readers.

Is any bookshop using Twitter in an impressive way? The content available to bookshops is massive. I imagine the bookshop of the future being staffed by consultants who help you draw value from the book. What stance are bookshops taking on book clubs? It’s not enough to simply give a small discount to book club members?

I wish you well on this discussion because I have need of bookshops for the rest of my life…