Is this anything new? Was there ever really a golden age when the vast majority of the population read voraciously?

I don't remember any rumours about Apple talking to publishers, only media companies dealing in magazines and news print, which are in need of saving. I think book publishers have put Kindle + Apple together and come up with something from nothing. It's a valid fear, but I think it's unfounded. And why are people assuming that because it's Apple, that it's a guaranteed hit? Do you know ANYONE who owns an Apple TV? Or an iPod Hifi?

Okay, but turning that statistic around that means that sixty percent of Americans read two books or more. That's at least three hundred and sixty four million, eight hundred and seventy one thousand, six hundred and sixty eight books. That's not people not reading anymore.

We are not doomed. I'd still buy books so that I could decide why "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" has a bumpy cover.

I must remember those words of wisdom next time I am covetting an iPad or reading books from one of the many eBook apps on my iPhone

ebook readers don't smell deliciously of paper and printing ink, you can't scribble in the margins, one's yards of shelving full of luscious books would shrink somewhat, and I for one would get cripplingly bored with no variety in fonts, folios, leading, gutters, covers and spines, let alone paper stock and binding. There's more to a book than the words.

Good points, Arabella, but what percentage of readers let their sense of smell or interest in typography influence their book-buying? I've said it before, but Bulky News is not a beautiful medium for prose and that's where a lot of the volume (and profit) is.