A Sad Trend and a Small Compensation

I love reading and I love books--the physically reality of books, with pages and paper and bindings and smells and typesetting and such. I worked in a bookstore for two years and now I order books for a ministry. It has been sad to watch the trend in book prices. They have gone up steadily these past few years, and they keep going up. Five years ago the average Christian Living paperback had 50 to 100 more pages and sold for five dollars less.
I'm not qualified to predict the future, but it seems that this trend will continue. At the risk of being wrong, I predict that the prices of new books will grow increasingly more expensive. At the same time reading is becoming cheaper, and will continue to become cheaper.

I used to believe that the printed page would never fade to the preeminence of the electronic screen. But that was naive, and I underestimated the power of technology. So a year ago I changed my mind, and predicted that even I would be reading most of my books electronically within five years. It seemed inevitable. Now I have come to a much more balanced view, I believe.

Books will not die any time soon; they will be around for generations. Mass-market paperbacks and cheap books, however, will die. Soon. Books are becoming more and more accessible across a variety of electronic sources and tools. Soon it will be the cheapest way to read. Books will still be published and bought, but people paying extra money for paper and ink will not want to pay for cheap books. People buying books in 15-20 years will be paying for an experience, and they will demand quality. And there will be less demand, driving the price even higher.

Standing at the beginning of 2010 it is exciting thinking about all the news ways the written word will be available. This last fall I read a book cover to cover on my computer screen, and it was free. I really am intrigued by possibilities like these. And then again, I am mourning the demise of our book culture. It is sad to think that books will become luxuries and collectibles, not the warp and woof of all our educational and intellectual enterprises.

So let me say, while I still can say it with enthusiasm, long live the book. I have grown up on you, and I will grow old with you, but I will miss your old place. If you, "reader," share any of these sentiments, let me welcome you to come over and read anytime. And there will always be a book on the shelf you are welcome to borrow.