Charles Bukowski - American author

Here's an excellent summary of what's happening to books and bookstores. I pretty much agree with every word. One thing Kaufman doesn't mention is that ever-evolving software and hardware will leave millions of ebooks unreadable. Not all authors and titles will be migrated forward. The key thing about paper books is that the printed text will never change on you, and there will always be a few surviving copies of any book (excepting lost ancient manuscripts, etc.) Ebooks are not real to me; they're Internet stuff. I have zero desire for a Kindle. At best, an electronic text is a convenient tool. You can search it, transport it, copy it it easily and cheaply. But it's not a dependable text. Link:

http://www.evergreenreview.com/120/electronic-book-burning.html