Is digital technology strengthening or weakening the book?

«More than three billion books are sold annually in America alone. In comparison, the sales numbers of e-readers and tablet computers are puny. Amazon, the world's biggest online retailer, will only sell an estimated three million of its Kindle this year. The iPad, Apple's touch-screen tablet, which doubles as an e-reader and will go on sale on April 3rd, will most likely do better. But the device's sales will still be dwarfed by those of global bestsellers, such as the Harry Potter tales, of which more than 400m copies have been bought globally.Bookstores and publishers may be hurting, but this does not mean that the book itself is in trouble - at least not immediately. For one, its physical incarnation will not disappear any time soon. People have grown up reading paper books and will not kick the habit easily. And e-readers and similar devices are still no match for the technology known as the book. Try annotating a textbook on a Kindle or reading your favorite author on an iPad whose battery has given up the ghost (replacing it will cost you $99 and all the data will be lost).» Read more: The Economist.