Is The Digital Age Going To Be The Death Of Book Stores & Libraries?

I just read an article about Barnes and Noble. The article said the companies market value dropped under a billion dollars, due to being squeezed by Amazon and Walmart.  The share holders are fighting, they are talking of selling the store, all the sounds of a company going down.

All this made me wonder once again with all the new digital items; Kindles, Readers, IPods and such, if some day in the near future there will be no new books.

I guess it would be good for the trees, I get that they are lighter to carry around. You can press a few buttons and instantly have a new or old book to read. I imagine at some point there will be a digital copy of every book ever printed. I get it. I'm a computer geek.

But I love my books. I look at the walls of my house, lined with bookshelves, loaded with books. They look good. I don't know what it is, I love the look of floor to ceiling books. I love book stores and libraries. Maybe it's just another geek thing. But I love my books.

I don't own a reading device. I've considered getting one from time to time. I think if I'm going to pay say $10 for a book, I want the book. Kind of like a back up copy. Its the same with music downloads.  I could probably count on one hand the number of music downloads I've paid for. I buy the CD. Maybe its just that I want to see what I'm paying for, to know that I got something for my money.

If there are no books, why would you need bookstores and libraries? You just need a website. There will be nearly no human interaction. Okay that could be a whole other topic. LOL

What do you think? Hardback or reading device? What's your preference? Do you think books will soon be a thing of the past?