Are e-books the new thing?

By: Mallory Tandy

New York Publishers are hoping that electronic reading devices will increase their sales. Some say this will not happen until the technology improves.

There has been a lot of talk in the publishing world about Amazon.com Inc's Kindle and Barnes & Noble Inc's new Nook, their new electrical gadgets.

These new gadgets are unlike the technologically advanced smartphones, in that they lack a lot of the functions other devices have. Until the technology on these new devices improves, no one will want to carry around another gadget.

They do have their advantages, people can store thousands of downloaded books and have access to multiple websites, magazines, and newspapers. Students who do not have their books in before classes start can easily go online and get them through these resources. According to Forrester Research the 2009 sales will reach up to three million. Bill Stein, who was once with Institute for the Future of the Book, thinks digital publishing is going to face many obstacles.

I think having books online can be beneficial for students especially, but i personally hate reading off of a computer screen and would much rather have a an actual book. I don't really know if digital publishing will take off.