In response to the most recent histrionic "books are dead" piece that circulated the internet a couple weeks back, Slog tipper Fnarf alerted us to this long, thoughtful essay about how books are not going anywhere. There's plenty to argue with in this piece, but it's worth it for the reasoned response and the considerate long view the author takes:

The old world is fading, the new world isn't yet in focus. When newspapers and music faced this moment, there was a significant tendency to become hugely angry that the old world in which we were all so comfortable was being "swept away". It's almost impossible for someone who has spent decades working in a calm, creative environment not to be enraged by the sight of American technology companies tipping everything on its head.

You should go read the whole thing.