Whether we’re sympathetic to Godan’s point of view or not, basing an argument against change on the people you know, what you learned in grade school, or what people “naturally” want to do doesn’t hold much water. The same arguments could have been proposed in the ’80s in reference to people choosing to read news on computer screens.

Kids in grade school today are pretty comfortable with reading on screens and “naturally” want to be able to search rapidly through long texts and jump from one bookmark to another and from one text to another. So does everyone they know.

Using a printed book is a skill we all learn in grade school. People naturally want to turn pages, and use bookmarks, and randomly page through a book.

They want a real book, not digital data. Amazon may sell an impressive number of digital books. But I anticipate these e-books are being purchased based on advertising hype, and not being actually read.

The consumer cost is low, decreasing the perceived value of e-books. Readers will get wise to Kindle, as they did with The Hula Hoop. Reading a Kindle is difficult. I anticipate most Kindles will end up on the bottom of the junk closet, because they cannot compare with printed books.

If I had the choice, which I do, of buying a printed book for $39.50 vs the same title as an e-book for $3.95, I would always buy the printed book at ten times the cost.

A publishing model that would actually work to market e-books is for conventional publishers to hire a compendium of digital experts to devise an open, industry standard e-book format, with free downloads of the e-book available only to purchasers of the printed book. People who like eye strain can then use a free program to read the e-books.

Netbooks could be used the same way as Kindle. They are slightly larger than a Kindle, but half the price. DRM killed the music industry. Many people won’t buy DRM protected products.

Although, I do have to admit e-books are easier to carry than printed books. The consumer wants printed books.