When will you abandon books?

I was just participating in a Buzz discussion about whether people bought newspapers still. I had some thoughts about my reluctance to buy an e-reader, over the pleasure of a book. I'm sure one day soon, a gadget will come along that persuades me otherwise. If it fits my criteria below, I'll be buying one for myself and one for each member of my family!

I will abandon books when I am able to purchase a device with a nominal amount of pages, 10 minimum (I enjoy turning pages, so what), made of electronic paper with typographically perfect electronic ink fonts, a moleskin or soft leather bind, and the ability to reproduce the smell of a database of book types. That would see me happy to find something else to fill my bookshelves.

I can imagine picking up my reader and selecting an old encyclopaedia, and it responding by stiffening it's cover, softening it's pages, and exuding that 'old library' smell that brings back so many comfy childhood memories for me :)


Until then, I'll continue to get my news from my computer screen and RSS feeds and my fiction from chunks of paper with ink filled pages.

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