academic futurists
Ted Striphas (The Late Age of Print) and Robert Darnton (The Case for Books) both exhibit little trepidation over being labeled futurists. It Turns out that the destiny of the iconic paper book is riding on an emergent future. Not just a concern with Google culture, but also a strong advocacy for future print and screen interdependence is motivating these book studies scholars.
the day it all changed
(link) The libraries need to hang on to their print particularly the 70% of all books in orphan status. if:book is watching the advent of the Internet Archive BookServer infrastructure as well, but not a peep from TeleRead.
homing
The Barnes & Noble Nook receives streaming content while in the store. This is similar to in-store access to paper books. Once a title is purchased it can also be loaned to another device. This is also a metaphor for physical loaning.
There is a whole line of reading device critique based on the logic of simulation of physical books. Many see an adverse influence on fulfillment of functionalities of connected reading devices and electronic communications. But the metaphor is a very rich source for template and retailers would like to move to screen reading without undue economic disruption of physical book purchase and ownership.
The question is will the paper book template increase or diminish prospects for dedicated book devices? There are still many moves to further lend paper materiality to screen reading. The very proliferation of devices is a mirror of a diversity in paper book production. Content browsing in the store (library) is another. Screen sampling resulting in paper copy purchase is another. Even the Kindle can be used to discover paper books.