And This is Why eBooks Will Never Replace Real Books

By now, everyone knows that eBooks are the future when it comes to reading. eBook sales have been tripling in the last couple of years and printed book sales have been dropping fast. This has to do with reading tablets such as the Kindle and iPad that allows us to carry around an entire library in our hands. The convenience factor is great considering that anyone would rather lug around their slim tablet with Game of Thrones in it, as opposed to carrying all 800+ pages of Game of Thrones.

Also, Publishing Companies charge way more for a printed book than an ebook. Of course they spend money on printing a book as opposed to just formatting an eBook, but keep in mind that it only costs a publisher about $3.25 to print and ship a book. While I understand their need to turn a profit but it's ridiculous to charge up to $30 for a book, when you can get the eBook version for half, or sometimes less than half that price.

And now, tablets/eReaders are becoming more and more affordable. You can get an Amazon Kindle for as low as $79 or a Barnes & Noble Nook for free (with a one-year subscription to The New York Times).

Need I say more? eBooks will replace Real Books....

Books will become like those VHS tapes that you probably have lying around in your basement along with all the other antiquated things like cassette tapes, game cartridges and vinyl records. Blame technology if you will, but it is an inevitable thing that eBooks will replace real, printed books.

The other day I went into a bookstore, just to browse around, and I came across Haruki Murakami's 1Q84, which by the way was selling for $30! (It's under $20 on Amazon though). I've been reading this book in eBook format and I never gave much thought about the cover, which looks like this:

Holding the actual book in my hand and scrutinizing every detail about it was just, dare I say, magical. I can't remember the last time I held a book because I have been doing all my reading on my iPhone. The book has a semi-transparent vellum jacket that looks like this:

Once you take the jacket off, it reveals that woman's face and immediately it draws you into the book. Pictures can't do justice to the actual thing and it could never show off  the creativity and skill put into designing the cover. It's just like that with eBooks, we're left with a thumbnail of the cover that could never replicate the real thing.

But that's not why eBooks will never replace Real Books. I could go on and talk about how ePages can't replace the scent and feel of actual book pages, but that's just common sense. Do yourself a favor and check out this video and then you'll see why eBooks will never replace Books. I promise you that it will be the best thing you've seen all day: