Print is Dead?

I took the plunge and ordered a kindle today. I had some gift cards from christmas and cashed in some credit card rewards points and used them towards purchasing my very own kindle. I had been thinking about an e-reader for some time now but couldn't bring myself to make the change. With my collection of books growing and the size of my book case shrinking and so many books on there simply collecting dust it seemed like an opportune time to make the big purchase.

According to a recent article, "In the words of Dr. Egon Spengler, print is dead. Or at least it’s one step closer to that great library in the sky, according to Amazon’s announcement that the third-generation model of their electronic reader, the Kindle, is now their biggest selling item ever, pulling ahead of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the previous title-holder." It is hard to believe that an e-reader has now been sold more than one of the greatest selling books of all time. I'll probably look back on this in 10 years and be shocked that I lived without one for so long, just like a cd player and then an mp3 player or a digital camera. I remember when I studied abroad for the semester in Italy in fall 2002, digital cameras were just gaining ground on the market and I still had my 35mm film camera. Or when I bought my very first iPod with my first bonus check from work in April 2004, and now here it is January 2011 and I am purchasing my first e-reader. I bet my kids will have some version of an e-reader for all their text books for school, I used to lug home what felt like 15 pounds worth of books every day.

I do hope that it's not true that print is dead. I know e-readers open up a lot more opportunities and doors to new things, and certainly a lot of space, and I am all for less clutter, but that doesn't mean I won't miss the look, feel, and smell of reading a book and flipping the pages, and for me of course never bending the spine of my books! But I'm excited to try out my new kindle, I wonder what book I should read first?