Will the Digital Books kill the Physical Books for good?

Google recently counted what they consider to be every single book in the world, amounting to a staggering total of 129,864,880. With the new study Newsweek conducted shown below, I wonder how long it will take the iPads and Kindles of the world to completely kill the physical books for good. Not to mention there is an army of more tablets are on the way.

The overall quality of e-books certainly isn’t the same as most hardcovers, but as the market shrinks for paper books, more talented authors will cease to publish physical copies.

I think the cost and storage of physical books will also be a factor here. We really don’t have the space or money for all the books we want to read anymore. We are also willing to take chances on new authors due to the lower cost of ebooks.  

The other real significance of what’s happening is what’s going to be really important about the rise of ereaders is the new forms they enable. Today’s book is largely an artifact of the printing press and the production and distribution value chains that grew up around it over the last several hundred years. ereaders, and the value chain that is forming around now, are going to foster new creative forms, and a new relationship with the audience.

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