All hailed the e-book for its innovations in technology. Embedded links, comments, and multi-media elements were what is supposed to kill the physical book. This recent essay at Salon contends that now that e-books are essentially being stripped down to resemble physical books, the real book is now considered a luxury item.
“But those examples from the last two years indicate a way forward for the printed book — as a luxury object. Because the margins (financial margins, that is) for e-books are so much wider than for printed books — they are far, far cheaper to produce than physical books and summarily cost less — there’s no compelling reason for anyone with an iDevice or e-reader to spend more money for a paper copy of a book other than aesthetic pleasure.”
