This really is a bold statement but if we sit back for a minute and look at all the facts, it might not be as farfetched as the title makes it out to be. Steve Haber, president of Sony’s digital reading business division, said: “Within five years there will be more digital content sold than physical content. Three years ago, I said within ten years but I realized that was wrong – it’s within five.” Basically, the idea is that by year 5, people will have purchased more magazines, newspapers and books on a device like the Sony eReader than in actual print. If you first think about it, the idea does seem farfetched. I mean, think of all the colleges and Barnes & Nobles and little mom and pop bookstores and heck, magazine stands. How could readers overtake them so quickly?

Thats where we need to start putting pieces of the puzzle together. Sony has already sold over 10 million eBooks, Amazon states that the Kindle is its best selling product ever, Barnes & Nobles (a bookstore) is betting on its Nook and Apple has already shipped over 2 million iPads and the iPhone & iPod Touch will be gaining the iBookStore. These are all events that have taken place in the last 6 months. I know that I will never buy another book again. Everything I read and will read (I’m reading some comics and 2 books) will be on my iPad (unless Sony wants to throw an eReader my way).

So while some laughed at the idea and said this is just another provider, boasting their own product, I really do believe we might be headed there and with the facts above, 5 years might not seem like a stretch now. In the end, think about how many trees can be saved and the idea that you no longer need to dedicate an entire wall to just books. One simple device will have any book you want, and if you don’t have it, you can download it over the air in just a minute.