But then attention spans might fall too, because too much freedom can also be too much distraction. The internet has already conditioned users to read shorter blocks of text. Other effects would include complicated copyright issues. Piracy might take over the literary world in ways unimaginable before (but then some people will always argue that piracy is actually good for authors because it allows greater exposure to their readers).
Nevertheless in the future, the newer e-book readers will seem so normal and natural, that people would wonder about the backwardness of the times when trees were cut to create those cumbersome un-interactive visual mediums of information transcription. And people will shake their heads in pity at their technology-challenged ancestors. This is how it has always been - the future always pitying the past.
But of course this will too soon be replaced by newer technologies. My best bet is electrodes in the head that download information directly to the brains. Two hundred years from now is my uneducated, vague and random guess. And then we shall talk about the anticipated extinction of e-book readers.
Article comments
1 - Howard Sherman
Your mentioning of interactive books is spot on. Interactive fiction is a reality today by mixing together fiction and technology creating a different entertainment medium.
2 - archisman
your article does not mention how cumbersome handling a laptop is for reading ebooks. so specialized gadgets only for reading ebooks would be necessary, so that its easy to carry, but anyways your last para was good :) and other than that it was quite uninteresting
3 - doug m
Maybe one day, but I don't think this will happen in anyone's lifetime alive today. My books don't run out of power and don't get damaged when dropped. Just because it's new doesn't make it better
4 - Christy Corp-Minamiji
From following publishing news and blogs, I suspect you may be right about the future of paper. For my own sake I hope you're wrong. Reading is a completely sensual pleasure. I enjoy the feel of books, the sounds of the pages, and the smell of books as they age. Call me nostalgic.
5 - Kanishk
My first impression of ebook readers when they came out a couple years ago was of absolute pessimism. Wondered why people would buy them when u can read ebooks on ur laptops. But I see the way people have taken to it, and its quite impressive. And I know for a fact that research is already on to create next-gen e-book readers that feel and smell like real paper, so that should take care of the inertia that you mentioned.