What will happen to printed books?

Well what will happen to printed books?

There is a lot of talk on the internet about printed books and the imminent demise of them…. If truth be told they are not going to suddenly disappear.  Well I don’t think they will ANYTIME soon.

The problem is as a market is massive for books but we have to be realistic and over time the digital age will get a hold of them, we all know this BUT (there is the good news).  I see the following happening.

Whilst I can see the strength of the eBook growing and growing, from an economics point of view I can see them beginning to dominate the market heavily as they are easier and instant.

What if someone created a book site where only publishers (any legit publishers) could upload their ebooks – could it rival Amazon and others?  It could add some (perhaps needed) quality control to the eBook market?

 My view on the book world

I feel the paper book may well become that “luxury” item (and as a result its costs will go up accordingly).  The paper book is great to have and hold etc but when the near future gets here I think we will have eBook readers in glasses and all sorts of other technologies removing the need for normal hand held devices. 

It may seem a little sci-fi but it will happen soon enough.

The kindle and other things will become obsolete but such is the pace of change.  If you think about it books from a reader’s point of view haven’t changed much in the past few centuries.  But books are now fused with technology and the change of pace is electric (no pun intended).  Think eBooks with small amount of video built in or the option for audio book or reading book version in the same purchase……  Both print and eBooks will remain (thankfully) but just in different markets.

No matter how I think about it though I just can’t see the paper books dying out either.  I suspect they will become the new luxury must have item and I expect them to begin to appreciate in value as less and less are made.

Yes publishers will have to adapt and change what services they offer (some more than others) but there will still be a book market the same as their always has been.  It will look different and the fusion with technology is a massive growth opportunity, business people bright enough to jump on this bandwagon and get it right will get very rich of it, its getting it right that’s the hard bit.