eReaders. Are They Really the Chef of the Future?

Recently, I read a very informative article: Electronic Readers: The Death Toll of Books or an Offering to Our Electronic-Addicted Society? (January 2009 RWR).  

 Now before I continue, I want to make it clear where I'm coming from. Though my novel, A Knight of Passion, is published in both ebook and print, it was when it came out in print that I really got excited. Why?

 I love books. Period.  

 To me there is something magical about the tactile feel of a book. The crisp pages, the gentle bleeding of the ink, the smell of the paper and glue, the full-color cover. All these things help to make a read that much more satisfying.  

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 But that's not to say I haven't read ebooks.  

 I've read plenty of ebooks. But the ones I really enjoyed, I went out and bought them in paperback.  

 So when I read the article on Electronic Readers, it was with some scepticism. But after carefully examining the “Quick Comparison Chart of E-Book Readers”, I quickly became convinced of two things.

1)All eReaders are most certainly not created equal.

2)e-Books will never have a large share of the market, especially during the economic crisis—as many are predicting.

 Why, you ask? (I think number 1 is self explanatory.) Because eReaders, generally speaking, cost anywhere between two hundred to five hundred dollars. In the current economic situation, I really can't see readers spending $200.00+ of their hard earned cash, and then, buying ebooks on top of that. When it's easier and far cheaper to spend $3.99 to $7.99 on a novel that will give you hours of enjoyment.

According to recent statistics (February 2009 RWR – Letter from RWA President, Diane Pershing), ebook sales only take up 3% to 4% of overall book sales. True its up 2% to 3% from a couple of years ago, but that is not going to make eReaders fly off the shelves. Besides that, an eReader isn't running on love (or even romance for that matter) but batteries. And once those batteries go dead, you have to wait up to four hours before they're recharged. Down time for print books? None. And like every other electronic gadget out there, once you buy an eReader, it's obsolete the moment you turn it on because the company is already working on the next “new and improved” version. But there is no “better version” for books. A book is a book is a book. Good or bad, it's all about the content.

 So don't throw out your paperbacks yet, because print books are going to be around for a long time...or until they create an ebook reader that not only looks and feels like book, but is inexpensive too. 

 I've shared my two cents, now share yours. Do you think eReaders are the wave of the future? Or are print books here to stay?