I certainly think a much better defense of "real" books can (and perhaps should) be made. I was a bit disappointed to notice that this article didn't mention w

I certainly think a much better defense of "real" books can (and perhaps should) be made. I was a bit disappointed to notice that this article didn't mention what I personally find an important difference: You own a book. You can never own an ebook. They're not for sale. The best you can ever do is throw some money in the direction of a publisher and wish really hard that they honor the utterly non-binding vapid 'license agreement' which extends literally no rights to you as a consumer and places literally no obligation on them as a seller. Sure eventually the courts will step in and declare digital property to be as real as any other form of property, and we'll see actual ownership rights return... but that might take a long time. Until then, you can give a book to a friend either as a loan or a present. You can buy used books. You can sell your books. You can always pick them up and read them. With ebooks, you cannot sell or even give them away. You can't loan them. You can't even be assured that you'll be able to pick them up and read them. You "agreed" to license that can be revoked at any time for any or no reason. Ebooks are a vague wish and an act of faith in the publishers and nothing more. Someone will eventually push it too far. And only then will consumer rights be restored by the courts, but that could take ages and isn't even guaranteed. Sure that's the way it worked with every single other industry that has tried this exactly identical "licenses not ownership" game, but things change...