Havent read rest of the thread but im sure some smartass has mentioned ebook at some point LOL.
Hardback is cool if im really keen on a book and want it quick and the price is 'reasonable'. If im ok to wait, usually wait for the paperback version to come out. Hardbacks are nicer if you want to display on a shelf.....

Improve our habits one step at a time.

Responsible cutting sounds like a good idea, but in truth, we are cutting swaths of our forest (it's pretty bad in my province where the paper industry is huge, a popular local folk song singer and activist did a documentary about it some years back and it blew up a storm for a while).

Wood cutting companies will cut corners with the silent complicity of our government. They'll use tricks like cutting large swaths of forests and leaving maybe a kilometer's worth bordering the roads to keep the public in the dark about things.

For storage, it's unlikely that all stored copies around the world would vanish.

In many ways, they are longer lived than discontinued paper copies (copying a paper book takes time and effort... copying a DRM-free electronic book...).

E-readers are the future. They just need a gigantic push in the ass to realize their potential (more diverse e-readers for various needs, more DRM-free books, passing some of the savings from not having a paper book to the customer).

Thank you for the kind words, it is still nice to see others who share my love of the "feel" given by a real book in your lap, and finger tips. Digital is nice, but will never have that same experience provided by a print title.

If it's all the same, I prefer the 'feel' of our northern forests not being cut down.

They are not even cutting it for housing or farming or something semi-justifiable like that.

They are cutting it down for paper in the height of the electronic age!

ebooks provide the superior book experience. There are a few exceptions: non-fiction work with a lot of footnotes; even if it's well-formatted, with hypertext links, it's obviously less convenient to have to click things than to be able to just glance at the bottom of the page. Books with a lot of illustrations. Books with special formatting, like House of Leaves. But at this point, a book has to be pretty special for me to want to buy a physical copy.

Same goes for the US, most of the national forest has been logged. And the logging firms only had to provide roads to get to those areas in exchange for the rights to log. Roads which they would have to put in to get the trees out anyways... Which is to say they were given the timber for free and the citizens got the shaft.

Weyerhauser does however have millions of acres of farms where they grow wood for such uses. Unfortunately, those forests are effectively dead as they don't have any of the normal undergrowth.

Paper is definitely superior for the purposes of archiving for a possibly nuclear holocause, but there's no reason why we need to print so many books for that purpose. And with funding things like the national archives, Library of Congress and such could do that even more efficiently with just stacks of printed pages, which could more efficiently be duplicated if need be.

Yes and no, keep in mind pulp and paper goods are not limited to books, but toilet paper, news papers, printer paper, fliers, etc... Now with the exception of TP (and I will attack anyone like a rabid squirrel if they try take away my toilet paper) all of those can be converted to digital variations rather successfully. I was specifically referring to texts that aren't disposed of right off the bat such as Novels, Graphic novels, Comics, Manga, Scientific Texts, and some Reference materials. Which I think should never cease to be printed.

I realize the politics of business are not a pretty matter, and by the reference to "my province" I take it you're a BC resident. I also suggested recycling the paper from fliers, news papers and the like to cut down upon logging companies.

I said it's unlikely as well, but the fact it remains a possibility is enough of a reason to not remove printed books from circulation/being made. An example of why I make a statement is, I am a HUGE classic Doctor Who fan, and many early episodes were lost due to wiping of tapes. Now that is intentional, but it's the fact recorded mediums are easily lost or destroyed and the original product is gone for good. NEVER trust recording mediums as the only source of storage for any important information.

Yes, but by converting everything over to all digital you take away many jobs from book store owners, to people working in printing plants, to others who depend on printed books for a living. Saying "eliminate" them is all well and good but you in the long run also take away many people's livelihood. Heck, you could also seriously effect something like the convention scene for books, comics, etc.... As well meaning as that is, the ends don't always justify the means.

I realize you said baby steps, but no matter how many baby steps you take you could have a lot of unexpected consequences as well. I don't think E-readers are the future so much as a viable alternative and part of the future of the written word. I, personally, have the opinion that both print AND digital mediums should be available to those in terms of novels and other reading materials that will not be immediately disposed of, and magazines, newspapers, fliers, etc...strictly digital or 100% recycled only.

That being said, you are entitled to your opinion, and I respect that. This is simply my (albeit a little idealistic) view. :)

+1.I like this view. Im uneasy as well about how many think digital is the way to go.Sure for convenience perhaps, however one other point is, not everyone has access to a e-reader, or a basic pc or access to basic internet even (ie lot of africa and third world countries).Having ebooks is a good ALTERNATIVE.Not as a replacement for real books. :)

Hardcover. They look better and last longer.

I totally understand. Every since I was a child, opening a book has been a kind of magical experience -- an escape (in a good way) into another perspective, time or culture. The physicality of the book enhanced that feeling. It sounds silly trying to explain it unless the other person feels similarly. My parents rarely buy books (yay, for libraries), so a fresh, new book was an extra special treat or present when I was growing up. Heh. I'm not mocking you, but I feel the exact same way about e-books! It has to be a super special edition and/or have a feature that really adds to the reading experience for me to buy it. It's funny how people feel the exact opposite about the same topic.

Awesome, I am the same way. I always wanted to time travel ever since I was a small child. For me, reading was my own way TO time travel, visit different periods, or see new and interesting cultures (even if completely fictional) right from my chair or bed. It doesn't sound silly at all, I feel the same way that books are one thing that can truly enhance the pleasure of reading.

Actually when I was a small child right through till I graduated college, I would sit in libraries by myself and read till I would pass out. I had many issues when I was very little where I had trouble reading and couldn't till I was age 2 and half or so. My first book ever was Frankenstein (and even at that age it bugged me when people called the monster Frankenstein LOL). When I was in hospital I would sneak that and The Hobbit to read (due to being in isolation they didn't want me bringing in too much).

I still own that copy of Frankenstein around here, it was so cool the cover had this patchwork of different face bits all meshed together to make the monster's face. It was so amazing...but also so, so sad. It made the story that much more heart breaking.

Paperback for use, hardback for switches to enter my underground lair.

Funny, I just use weighted torches. Twist them the wrong way and they set off booby traps. But that's just my method. :)

I prefer paperbacks because as a few others have said, hardcovers can be unwieldy.
I know digital books are the future, but I still buy physical books. I have a weird fetish for walls lined with packed bookshelves in my house. They give the illusion that I am fancy and sophisticated