Obsolete Furniture... and Books

I remember years ago, every furniture store had a selection of microwave oven stands to choose from. Homes back then did not have a shelf space built into the kitchen to accommodate a microwave oven.  I also remember buying TV stands and stereo stands.  Now TVs are wall mounted, and you no longer need a stand that has a shelf to hold the VCR and space beneath it to store your VHS videos.  Think back too about buying a slim line stand or rack to hold all your CDs once you got rid of all your vinyl (or stuck it up in the attic).

I would hate to see the day when book shelves become obsolete as we give way to electronic books.  I love proudly displaying all my books on a shelf and I love adding to it and crowding the shelf with more and more hardcovers and paperbacks of recent bestsellers and myriad nonfiction works.  I love browsing the bookshelves when I visit someone's home.  I firmly believe a great way to get to know someone is to see what books they have in their collection.

Granted, the e-book revlolution is here and there's no turning back, but I doubt the digitalization of books will ever permeate our society to the same extent that it has in the worlds of music and video.  At least I hope not.  I would hate to see bookshelves become obsolete.