Are e-books and e-readers the future of reading? Will physical books eventually die out and be completely replaced by e-books instead? Well according to Waterstones, the UK’s largest book retailing chain, it seems unlikely that e-books and e-readers will be taking over our lives anytime soon.According to the retailer, they have noticed that sales of Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader has “disappeared”. Instead the retailer claims that they have started to see an increase in demand for physical books. Based on their figures, they found an increase of 5% in sales of physical books back in December, which unfortunately was at the expense of the Kindle.
Tim Waterstone, the founder of the bookshop, was quoted back in March as saying, “The e-books have developed a share of the market, of course they have, but every indication – certainly from America – shows the share is already in decline. The indications are that it will do exactly the same in the UK.”
While e-books are undoubtedly convenient as it allows us to bring our library of books anywhere, some would argue that they lack the same feel as a physical book. Flipping pages on a screen is very different to that of an actual book, but what do you guys think? Do you still prefer physical books or do you think that e-books are the way of the future?