Has the Train Left the Station as Far as Physical Books are Concerned?

I am a lover of books. I buy them whenever I can't resist the temptation. I also greedily borrow books from the libraries. But yes, I am not up to the speed when it comes to reading all the books that I surround myself with. The pleasure of possessing the books that I like and guilt of not being able to read all of them go hand-in-hand. 


Just at this moment, Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely,  My Years with General Motors by Alfred P. Sloan, Jr., and Influence by Robert B. Cialdini are staring at me and asking: You started reading each of us in parallel and how on the earth are you going to finish any of us? In that respect, I am never guilt-free.


Of course, when we think or talk about books, we mean those thick stacks of printed sheets nicely bound together with an attractive cover on the top. I mean the physical books. But is their end near? Has the train left the station? If you listen to Nicholas Negroponte, founder of One Laptop per Child and MIT Media lab, that indeed seems to be the writing on the wall.