The only way you can tell where you're going is by looking into the rear-view mirror. That's the analogy English professor Roger Easson uses to describe the speed and uncertainty of the electronic publishing world. Some traditionalists already concede a share of the future literary market to electronic devices. Both sides are adamant. It's going to fade out.
People love new toys.
Books have a tactile pleasure, provide an aesthetic satisfaction. And they give the reader a chance to read the text at one's own pace. People are going to continue to want books. Easson, an English professor at Christian Brothers University, is a former managing editor of two publishing houses, St. Luke's Press and Peachtree Publishing. In libraries we're already seeing that a book that's six months to a year old is obsolete.