DespitetheanxietythatJones'Host-saidbysometobethefirstdigitalnovel-causedin1993，publishersweren'ttooconcernedthate-bookswouldonedayreplaceprintedbooks．However，thatattitudewaschangedsuddenlyin2007whenAmazon'sKindlecameontothemarket，whichledtoe-booksalesjumpingupto1，260%．Sincethen，e-books'popularityhascontinuedtosteadilyrise．Thepublishingindustryseemedtohavelostallpossibleabilitytoregainitsposition．Willprintedbookseventuallybecomeathingofthepast？

AccordingtoMikeShatzkin，founderandCEOoftheIdeaLogicalCompany，printedbooksjustforplainoldreadingwill，in10yearsfromnow，beunusual．"Notsounusualthatakidwillsay，‘Mommy，what'sthat？'butunusualenoughthatonthetrainyou'llseeoneortwopeoplereadingsomethingprinted，whileeveryoneelseisreadingoffofatablet．"AndShatzkinbelievesthatthe demise ofprintissuretohappen，thoughsuchadaywon'tarriveforperhaps50to100ormoreyears．

RobertStein，founderoftheInstitutefortheFutureoftheBook，however，believesthatbookswon'tdisappearentirely，atleastnotanytimesoon．"Printwillexist，butitwillbeinadifferentfieldandwillappealtoaverylimitedaudience，aspoetrydoestoday．Likewoodblockprinting，hand-processedfilmandfolkweaving （编织），printedpagesmayassumeanartisticvalue，"hesays．Heimaginesthatfutureformsofbooksmightbedevelopednotbyconventionalpublishersbutbythegamingindustry．Healsopredictsthatthe distinction between writer and reader will be made less obvious by a social reading experience in which authors and consumers can digitally interact with each other to discuss any passage，sentenceorline．

Isthereanythingwerisksacrificing，shouldprintreallydisappearentirely？AccordingtoMaryanneWolf，directoroftheCenterforReadingandLanguageResearchatTuftsUniversity，electronicreadingcannegativelyaffectthewaythebrainrespondstotext，includingreadingcomprehension，focusandtheabilitytomaintainattentiontodetailslikeplotandorderofevents．"Myworryisthatwe'llhaveashort-circuitedreadingbrain，excellentforgatheringinformationbutnotnecessarilyforformingcrit