Will the book survive?

Obviously the answer is yes, but the real question is - in what level of popularity will the printed book continue on. I happen to think we're years upon years from having to worry about this - and think the newspaper and magazine industries need to be worried about first. Crosscut has an interesting story on the topic.

Personally, I'm pulling for the printed book to succeed. I still enjoy browsing a bookstore, although to be honest the big box stores have dedicated an increasingly slimmer amount of space to books up my alley as things like DVDs, children's toys, coffee shops and paraphernalia, greeting cards and other non-book items. There's also no place for certain items yet, such as children's books, cookbooks (unless you think this is a great idea) and books where the photos are as important as the words (some travel books, some history books, most photography books, etc).

More importantly, web sites and e-ink driven reader screens are not always the best way to learn about a new book. Talking to a book expert, however, can be - and you find a lot of those running smaller bookstores across America. It'd be hard to fit The Strand on my nook's screen and there's no way to to replicate The Northshire Bookstore on my Kindle - two of my favorites, obviously biased towards the fact that I lived and worked in NYC for years and vacationed regularly in Vermont.

I'd love to see some publishers try what some DVD publishers have done - stick a digital copy in the mix at no extra cost. Heck, setup an ePub storefront with Adobe Digital Editions and stick a coupon for a free book instead - then you can still have your precious DRM.