Being a library assistant and a general bibliophile, I have heard many lamentations concerning the rise of electronic reading devices: Kindles , Nooks , etc. (I myself own a Pandigital Novel ). I don't believe that the development of new technology necessarily means the extinction of the older way. In some cases this has been true, of course: cassette tapes replaced by compact discs replaced by MP3s, etc. But books? This is a technology that has been around long enough to be removed from fad status, hasn't it? Hundreds of years, people. Medieval monks were making books! Personally, my own lamentation has been the steady decrease in the quality of bookbinding in this last century. Working in a library, I see the newest James Patterson hardback come back after only two or three uses, and the binding is already falling apart. No, this is not because of patron abuse. I have seen it happen over and over. Sadly, this is the result of a cheap glue job and not one sewn page. Not that ...
