Accept for personal hygiene that is.  :)   With the new e-books coming out, I bet the prices start dropping in the next few years and you'll be able to pick one up on the cheap and then we'll be able to get books, newspapers, mags and who knows, maybe even websites like MMORPG.com on them!  Woohoo!

The New Nook

Alex

Kindle 2

Plus instead of buying books, people can download them with torrents. ;)

Originally posted by Ihmotepp

Plus instead of buying books, people can download them with torrents. ;)

Think maybe the libraries we have now could convert their stuff into files and then we could just...download the library? =D   An interesting thought, I mean, the books are already free?  The big issue I'd see with this is what about book sales?  Libraries generally have copies of new releases, and if the new release is a few mouse clicks away (which i realize going to the library isn't that much of a hassle, but it's some!) would there be any reason to purchase books anymore?  Or perhaps our libraries would become something akin to itunes, having to purchase what was once free? o_O

I can't say I like a paperless society.

Personally no laptop and ebook can compare to the feeling of reading a nice book while the sea breeze soothes me. So I doubt I will prefer buying ebooks over actual ones.

Aw, this is disappointing. I thought this was going to be about how paper money is going to become obsolete and digital currency will rule in 2015 and beyond.

Have your own virtual, impeneterable techno bank. Where certain contents of It could be accessed via your cell phone, computer, ipod etc.

I think the future should go to digital currency though, It's safer, cleaner and overall better in my opinion.

Paper money isn't money, It's just a means of exchanging wealth, ideas and goods.

So why not digital currency?

Originally posted by sniperg

I can't say I like a paperless society.

Personally no laptop and ebook can compare to the feeling of reading a nice book while the sea breeze soothes me. So I doubt I will prefer buying ebooks over actual ones.

I know the feeling, I prefer real books to ebooks. Though I would like to purchase an ebook for long trips, so I can read whatever I feel like. Still nothing beats a good cup of coffee, a comfortable chair and a real book.

   *Gets off bus at school for first day* Heres your school eBook, please head to the library to download your books.

Obviously theres potential to the technology. Eliminating millions of books could save hundreds of millions of dollars for schools. The idea is actually under testing at a number of colleges as we speak and so far students like them. Save for the fact they cant doodle in the margins. Of course tech could develop that ability soon enough hehe. I like paper myself but since I travel so much Id love one of these ebooks because its so light.

Will most likely pick up a Nook... but still love reading them there old fashioned books with paper, too.

Originally posted by Techleo

   *Gets off bus at school for first day* Heres your school eBook, please head to the library to download your books.

Obviously theres potential to the technology. Eliminating millions of books could save hundreds of millions of dollars for schools. The idea is actually under testing at a number of colleges as we speak and so far students like them. Save for the fact they cant doodle in the margins. Of course tech could develop that ability soon enough hehe. I like paper myself but since I travel so much Id love one of these ebooks because its so light.

That hadn't crossed my mind yet, how big something like a Kindle lite would benefit school children. I figure that's definitely only a matter of time. It makes quite a lot of sense.

Sorry, but people will not let it happen. As much of a techie as I am, I would rather flip my pages than have a Kindle.

Plus, it has been shown already how Kindles have the nice little Big Brother effect. Remember when Amazon deleted everyone's copies of Animal Farm and 1984 on every single Kindle which downloaded the books?

Originally posted by Dekron

 Remember when Amazon deleted everyone's copies of Animal Farm and 1984 on every single Kindle which downloaded the books?

Irony! 

-Jive

Originally posted by Dekron

Sorry, but people will not let it happen. As much of a techie as I am, I would rather flip my pages than have a Kindle.

Plus, it has been shown already how Kindles have the nice little Big Brother effect. Remember when Amazon deleted everyone's copies of Animal Farm and 1984 on every single Kindle which downloaded the books?

That was Amazon violating their own TOS. Moot point unless it was in their TOS that they could act as 'Big Brother'. A lone and isolated incident is just that, lone and isolated. Hardly an indictment.

The world won't become truly 'paperless' though. No more than other forms of traditional media have been completely phased out. What's important though is that its becoming viable to get all of your books in digital form; the same as with music, movies, games and our news. Kindle sales are already doing extremely well when its provided as an option against a traditional book sale. So its very reasonable to imagine digital books will take off similar to other forms of traditional media turned digital.

They're going to make soft screens like a sheet of paper so it'll be like reading paper anyway.

Edit:  I said soft screens but they're more like flexible screens - this is the first step:

http://www.cnet.com.au/hp-unveils-paper-thin-flexible-screen-technology-240001903.htm

Teala is right, our society is moving towards paperless.  However, as others have noted, the feeling of wanting to read real books is a majority rule as of now, and it will take about 50 years (for Gen X's and older to die out or just get old) before this happens, as these are the generations that still hold on to the old method of non-digitial media.

I myself look forward to a digital society!  Someday....

I really like the Idea with E-paper. I make blueprintes at work in format A2 because they are highly detail and to be sure get it all cover. With a single E-paper you can zoom into the section of a blueprint and see the detail nice and easy. However I woulder if they can make a solid version of E-paper there can use out in production without the risk of being ruined due to pollution.

Originally posted by sepher

That was Amazon violating their own TOS.

Granted, but it goes to show how Kindles can be easily manipulated.

Originally posted by Dekron

Originally posted by sepher

That was Amazon violating their own TOS.

Granted, but it goes to show how Kindles can be easily manipulated.

Easy manipulation goes for all software that acts as a service, which is why the TOS is important, and why its important to distinguish incidents from worthy worries. There's a Kindle iPhone app, there's an upcoming Kindle PC app. It isn't so much the form of the hardware as it is the software. The same kind of incident could occur on iTunes, but if it did we wouldn't condemn digital playlists as an unsuitable replacement for traditional CDs because of any 'big brother'.

So, we'll see. I personally believe Kindle as software is definitely going to become the iTunes of book delivery, simply because of the store its connected to. The future of the actual Kindle branded hardware doesn't much matter, but it looks to be doing pretty good as well.

Originally posted by sniperg

I can't say I like a paperless society.

Personally no laptop and ebook can compare to the feeling of reading a nice book while the sea breeze soothes me. So I doubt I will prefer buying ebooks over actual ones.

So, you refuse to adapt with society? Great, join the bums of society right over there... don't worry, they won't make you learn anything new.

Originally posted by Dekron

Sorry, but people will not let it happen. As much of a techie as I am, I would rather flip my pages than have a Kindle.

Sorry, but you aren't a techie. Putting a video card into a snappable slot on a computer doesn't qualify you as a techie. It just qualifies you as a gamer geek.. which I suppose, you will probably also get-off to.

Originally posted by lifesbrink

Teala is right, our society is moving towards paperless.  However, as others have noted, the feeling of wanting to read real books is a majority rule as of now, and it will take about 50 years (for Gen X's and older to die out or just get old) before this happens, as these are the generations that still hold on to the old method of non-digitial media.

I myself look forward to a digital society!  Someday....

I disagree. Old people will use it if it's cheap.

All you have to do is give away the reader, and sell books for half what it costs to buy the paper, and everyone will adopt it.

But 300 bucks for the reader, then the same price for the books? In that case people will just buy the paper.

It's just like Solar power.

Pay 50,000 dollars to install it, and you'll make your money back in 30 years. Screw that, I'll just pay the power company each month.

It's just economics. Now you get the early adopters that don't mind paying. Make it cheap enough to compete with paper, and you'll put paper out of business.

Treehugger!

 Well the local wally world had one of these devices, only 512mb or ram..i'll wait for the better models, seemed kinda slow to me when looking through the menu's and such.