Umberto Eco on the future of the printed word

FEAR NOT, BOOKWORMS: Umberto Eco has no fear that the book is going to disappear, at least not anytime soon.

The Internet has returned us to the alphabet … From now on, everyone has to read. In order to read, you need a medium. This medium cannot simply be a computer screen [...] Either the book will continue to be the medium for reading, or its replacement will resemble what the book has always been, even before the invention of the printing press. Alterations to the book-as-object have modified neither its function nor its grammar for more than 500 years. The book is like the spoon, scissors, the hammer, the wheel. Once invented, it cannot be improved.

In spite of my own innate fondness for the printed world, I find his remarks about the 'replacement' to be interesting, in that what he describes, even in a few words only, sounds very much like an ebook of some description. Haven't they been designed to resemble the printed word as much as possible, and isn't that the overall goal of future improvements? Although I would very much like to believe that the book will still be around (and I believe it will) fifty years from now, I reserve doubt as to whether or not it will still harbour mainstream appeal. Not only due to the rise of ebooks, but also because of the general public's fading affinity for literature and writing of a longer form. The printed book will still have fans, I suspect, but it will be the vinyl of literature.