Ipads, Kindles, Nooks and maybe Books...

Technology moves so fast, it is always expanding and reaching new unbelievable limits. I am certainly curious about the future technological innovations, because I am sure that my parents and grandparents are incredibly confused, excited and intrigued by all of these new electronic gadgets that keep coming up. One topic that is of particular interest to me are these new book holders, Nooks, Kindles and I-pads which had virtual libraries where people can buy books wherever they have WiFi access and wa-la, magically and probably 15 bucks later they have an electronic book. It is so neat and so easily accessible. I can completely understand the thought process behind this one, it is environmentally better because we aren't printing as many books, it is easy to carry around, people are able to collect many more books and transfer them all at once, it is faster to get the books or reading material, they are pretty affordable ($79) and it is probably pretty funny to use them. There are clearly many pro's to having an electronic book, so why hasn't everyone converted? My Aunt and Uncle bought one for my dad for his birthday, my dad is an avid book reader, he reads and reads and reads and yes, he reads some more. It's great and he definitely passed that trait along to me. When he received this present he was very grateful; however, he didn't really want it. To my Aunt and Uncle it made completely sense why they would purchase this gift for him, in fact they were surprised he didn't already have one. What wasn't factored in was the fact that my dad is someone who just loves the rituals that go with book reading. To him, reading is something very special; it is his time to find a quite place and dive into whatever he is reading, it is just him and the book and no electronics or people or annoyances. Having an electronic book kind of goes against that ritual for him. While the e-book is handy and convenient and cool it is just not how he enjoys reading. I can also understand this point of view, I grew up reading and holding books and smelling them and I loved running all of the pages of the book against my thumb after I was done reading and having that surge of accomplishment after I had finished a great book. All these feelings may not be the same when a person holds a Kindle or Nook. It is the same information but sometimes it just comes down to preference. Does the existence of these e-books mean that bookstores will eventually no longer exist? This question could really bring up so many more topics and questions about technology, book, and school. It is interesting to see how the world around us changes and how different people adapt. I can't wait to see what the next "big thing" will be.