Could e-readers like Amazon’s Kindle and the Sony eBook Reader one day take the place of paper books?

It seems like the technological route is the way to go for most these days. Newspaper and magazine companies, like The National Post and Playboy, are filing for bankruptcy because they are losing a large chunk of their readership to online viewers. Could the same t

A woman enjoys reading a conventional book.

hing happen with books?

Amazon’s Kindle was just recently made available to customers in Canada. With its ability to hold up to 1500 books, there is no doubt that this gadget will be a must have for many ‘tekkies’ people this holiday season.

Sony’s eBook Reader, not unlike the Kindle, is small, lightweight, and can carry a few hundred books and PDF files. This product has been available in Canada for quite some time now, and although sales have been steady, it clearly hasn’t made a dent in the book selling industry.

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“I’m against them,” says Brooke Ford, an employee at BMV Books Magazines Videos. “They won’t take off and put books at risk. The physical book is innately human and not everyone has access to the internet. Literacy rates won’t go up because of e-readers. It’s a grotesque format.”

Despite Ford’s opinion, eBook readers are selling. Craig English, an e-reader specialist and employee at Future Shop does acknowledge the sales of e-readers but believes they won’t take over books because books are too wide spread.

“Too many people read books,” says English. “E-readers are more appealing to electronic savvy people. They’ve only been on the market for a couple months and they aren’t exactly a cheap thing. They’re something you have to want.”

As for English’s preference, “I still prefer physical books,” he says.

So what does the future hold for conventional books? It is quite accurate to announce that they are here to stay.

Physical books, whether paper back or hard cover are classic. Written literature is one of the oldest forms on communication and the idea of it making an abrupt exit is unlikely.

E-readers appeal to a certain niche of people, which is why the introduction of electronic gadgets like e-readers catching people’s eyes shouldn’t worry any about the disappearance of paper books. The electronically inclined folks are sure to love the Kindles and eBooks of the world.

By: Matt Ing & Kim Davidson