To me, this whole article just drips with techno-utopic hubris. The author seems honestly surprised that in its two decades of existence, Amazon hasn't yet mana

To me, this whole article just drips with techno-utopic hubris. The author seems honestly surprised that in its two decades of existence, Amazon hasn't yet managed to reinvent the book. ("If Amazon wanted to, it could with a single act bring a new form of book into being.") Well, perhaps things are not quite that simple. After all, books have been undergoing constant optimization for the past two millenia - never mind decades. It's hard to truly reinvent something that has been successful (and continually improving) for so long. I'm not against ebooks per se - I own an ebook reader and I think it's great for journeys and the like (though I do prefer physical books where possible). But ebooks are just books on another medium, rather like switching from parchment to paper. They are not the "new form of book" the author envisions. I don't think a book needs all those fancy features he talks about. Sure, they can be pretty gimmicks, and perhaps even helpful here and there. But not everything needs to be, or can be, improved upon by digital technology. A book is a book, and it's been that a long time before Jeff Bezos came along. I dare say it will remain that long after he is gone.