Some people say that books, newspapers – they are all ultimately destined for the giant shredder in the sky.
Others reckon that there is something long-lasting, tangible and psychologically pleasing about a good novel or an evening paper.
Me? I am afraid I am too busy getting uncomfortable on the fence on this one.
I read in an article on The New York Times website that an e-newspaper had been developed by Plastic Logic. Apparently this gadget will initially only be available in black and white, will be the size of a piece of copier paper and will be continually updated via a wireless link, keeping avid news fans up-to-date at all times.
There are still a lot of questions to be asked at this stage though – which papers will feature on the device? How much will it cost? What about colour? Moving images?
Only this summer, Orange and France Telecom trialled a prototype of the Read&Go – which allowed 100 testers to access top French newspapers Le Monde and Le Figaro via FTE's Orange cellular network, the results of which are yet to be revealed.
What with this and all the recent news about the Sony Reader and Amazon's Kindle, I started to wonder what the future really is all about for printed books and papers.
I know that I love books. There is something private about opening the page and getting lost inside its love-worn cover. And the thought of a digital Bible, or electronic Mills & Boon, just doesn't sit well to be honest.
It took a phone call to my Grandma in the end to help me resolve (sort of) the issue.
We spoke the other evening and she informed me about how busy she had been washing and drying her clothes.
You may wonder what this has to do with print (I am beginning to think that myself), but bear with me.
My Grandma washes her own clothes, by hand, as she always has done. A concept so alien to me that I still don't really understand the logistics of it. Of course, the odd 'handwash-only' has had a dunk in my sink but to wash each and every garment individually by hand and wait for them all to dry? Nonsense.
In such a modern and technology-driven world, this medieval practice left me stunned.
Yet these kind of traditions are exactly what makes some people believe that books and newspapers will never die out. People like what they know and love tradition, and books are something so inherently embedded in our daily lives from bedtime stories and chemistry textbooks to television guides and favourite works of fiction. How could we possibly imagine a world without them?
It is this that worries me… How could I imagine a world without washing machines?
Just as the idea of bending over a kitchen sink with permanently crinkly fingers is completely archaic, never mind painfully slow and a waste of my good time, perhaps printed books will become the 'handwashing' of the future – cumbersome, slow, heavy and out-of-date.
Will future generations have this unconditional love affair with the printed book? And more importantly, will I become the 'ghost of printing future' – an 89-year-old woman who seems so bewilderingly old-fashioned with a stash of paperbacks gathering dust on the shelves – my grandchildren looking on, e-readers pride of place in their pockets?
But book lovers, printers, newspaper addicts – don't panic yet. Just because something is smaller, more modern, or even more effective doesn't always make it popular with the paying public. Just look at Betamax and Mini Discs… One thing's for sure – the future is bright but mine it isn't going to be orange unless I make a mistake with the handwashing.