E-book and e-reader sales have been rapidly increasing for a few years now, prompting fears by some that this trend will spell the end of printed books altogether. Yet this is not the first time a new technology has been seen as a threat to books; movies, radio, and TV have also played that role at one time or another. Do you think current fears will prove hollow like those in the past, or do you think this time is different? Explain your answer.

Some critics of digital books and of reading books on a computer, e-reader, or other device talk about "losing" something from the experience of holding and reading a traditional book. What do you think? In what ways might reading an e-book be better than a regular book? In what ways might it be less enjoyable?