E-Reader Buzz: Are Paper Books Becoming Obsolete?

Image from Google; Copyright Taylor Argenzio

(Disclaimer:  I am not being paid in any way for advertisement in this post.  These thoughts are my own opinions and I am not being sponsored by any products or companies mentioned.)

Did you know the idea of an electronic reader (or e-reader) dates back to the 1930’s?!  Crazy, right?!  A man, Bob Brown, who saw his first talking motion picture went home and wrote about “readies” (after “talkies, the talking motion picture).  He said the machine would be “a simple reading machine which I can carry or move around, attach to any old electric light plug and read hundred-thousand-word novels in 10 minutes…” (Schuessler, 2010)  Brown died in 1959, not living to see the first e-reader hit the market in 1998.  Since then, Kobo, Amazon, Sony, and Barns and Noble have gotten in on the e-reader action. 

I know plenty of people who swear by traditional paper books.  They love the feel of it in their hands and the smell of it by their face.  That’s cool.  I used to be one of those people, too.  I tend to like to read in bed, though, and I am a person who likes to be on their side.  So, if I weren’t at the perfect spot in my book, it would be awkward to hold.  I have dropped a book on my face too many times to count.  My manager at work told me about e-readers back in 2009, when they were just starting to pick up speed.  She showed me her Amazon Kindle (the very first one).  It was bulky but still light compared to most novels, had the ability to store about a thousand books at a time with essentially an unlimited amount on “the cloud,” and had 3G to be able to download a book anywhere (without a monthly bill to pay).  I was sold and got the 2^nd generation Kindle for Christmas. 

Since then, I’ve owned the Amazon Kindle 2^nd gen., the Kindle Fire (hated it), and iPad, and my current love- the Kindle Paperwhite 5^th gen..  I absolutely adore the true e-readers (not the tablets with a reading app like the iPad and the Kindle Fire).  My Paperwhite is gold to me- incredibly lightweight, fits in my purse, holds thousands of books, has a soft backlight so I don’t need a bulky book light anymore, AND has Goodreads built in.  Major plus with Goodreads because I use it all the time and my Kindle will update suggestions for me based on what I have shelved in Goodreads.  Amazon released the Kindle Oasis about two weeks ago, and it looks pretty cool, but I stand by my trusty Paperwhite.

As convenient as the e-readers are, they’re already dropping off in sales.  This article from last year states that only 12 million e-reader or e-ink devices were sold in 2014, down from 20 million in 2011.  That is a pretty big decline!  But why is it happening?  I personally don’t understand it, and that is probably because I am bias and LOVE my Kindle, not to mention I don’t like dropping books on my face in bed.  One thing I don’t foresee happening, though, is digital books making paper books obsolete.  I think there will always be traditional books, co-existing with the digital world to make everyone happy.  What are your thoughts and what do you prefer?  Let me know in the comments below!

Finally, click here to check out my latest book review on Emily Giffin’s The One and Only.

Reference:

Schuessler, J. (2010, April 8). The Godfather of the E-Reader. Retrieved April 23, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/11/books/review/Schuessler-t.html?pagewanted=all