The number of ezines (or webzines) seems to be increasing daily.  Many think printed books are on the way to becoming obsolete, perhaps during the first half of this century.

Stephen King gave ebooks a boost when he published one on the internet.  From what I've heard, his book was recieved very well.  Perhaps all it will take is a few other well known writers publishing on the web to start a landslide.

I once heard that when radio started to become popular, many predicted the death of the newspaper business.  Will Rogers is quoted as saying, "Radio will never replace newspapers.  You can't wrap a fish in a radio."

I've seen this post a couple of times and been meaning to get to it.

We've become a society of "devices," from laptops to Blackberries to iPods. With the big scare over airport security today, one woman's biggest complaint was having to go several hours without her iPod.

I've read one book on the pc and it was irritating--I could never stay comfortable, and it's impossible to tuck into your hip pocket.  I could print it, but for obvious reasons, that's impractical.  I prefer turning pages, rather than hitting a page-down key.

Certainly, an e-book is cheaper, but for the life of me I can't get around the irritation of a bright screen staring at me, as opposed to sitting by a window during a storm and flipping pages.

Of course, I'm talking pleasure reading.  One can (and I have) research even long documents via the pc--it's work, but then research is work.  

E-zines, on the other hand, are a marvelous tool for free speech and for promoting the arts.  I don't worry that a particular e-zine may only reach a few dozen people.  The point is, it's reaching a few dozen people.  And it's an art in and of itself.  I delight that it's a free pulpit and, if successful, is hopefully an irritant to the litarary elite.

Sadly, however, I see fewer young people checking out books (I spend a reasonable amount of time) at the library.  Generally, the majority of people in the library are panting over computers--or waiting to pant over computers.  I've watched the habits of those who finish and leave--without books.  I've been meaning to write and suggest they move them over to the Parks Department and put them in with the ping-pong tables.

I have only perused a couple of e-versions or e-publications...but, for the most part, I have only looked at them to share something with someone else or research something. As for reading, I much prefer the real deal. A nice book with that dusty-had-a-shelf-life-of-50-years quality that you just can not get on the net. That and reading for hours can make my eyes strained as it is. Why in the world would I want to heighten that sensation by sitting myself in front of a screen that is going to add that beloved glare effect to the situation? Can you say migraine?

Right on!  Something else you can't do with e-pubs:  curl up in bed with a good story.  And you can't read sitting on the can, either.  :-)

Well...maybe if you had a laptop. But it would seem to me to be much MUCH easier to get comfy with a iddy biddy book rather than a laptop. And I am not so sure I would want to sit on the can with a laptop. All that water around with and electrical device...simply shocking.