There are a great many advantages and “neat things” about Amazon’s Kindle, and other similar e-readers. (For the purpose of this commentary, I also include Apple’s iPad and other tablets in this same category.) The technology was a long time coming, and was depicted in many works of fiction for years prior.

Many people have worried about the demise of the printed book with the emergence of this new technology. A few years have gone by, however, and I think there are some obvious reasons why printed books aren’t going anywhere just yet.

One of the main reasons are publishers themselves. If you own a Kindle you may have noticed that while you might save a few pennies on a Kindle version of book, the price is often pretty close to what it would cost to get the original version. This doesn’t make sense economically, because it costs the publishers very little to send out additional copies electronically as opposed to another printing run. Computers make books very cheaply reproducible, and the price should reflect that. (Basic supply and demand math.) Rather than focusing on making back original costs over the sum of total sales, publishers should seek to make their customer base larger by ensuring that the reading devices are in as many hands as possible. If you multiple the market exponentially the smaller cost still ads up just fine. It’s difficult to let go of the dollar signs though, and in my opinion, publishers hope the savings on digital copies will translate directly into profits.

There is also still something to be said for the feel of a good book in your hands. The comfort of late night reading and the smell of pages that an e-reader just can’t replace. Not to mention collecting – a hard drive full of books just doesn’t compete with the feel of a large set of shelves full of classics.

For myself, as long as I can go on Amazon and buy a used copy of a new book I want to read for ten cents plus three dollars shipping and handling, that still beats the seven dollar electronic version.