Books - and newspapers - are history, some would say.

If your father (or mother) was a reader, meaning there was always a library book lying on a table in the house - when not being read, you are probably aged over fifty five. In that circumstance there would not have been a computer for miles, except as a mainframe 'at the office'. There will always be a place for books and papers ......... or will there? With the 'explosion' of the information superhighway, younger folk are far more likely to turn to the www than to a book, and many not-so-young people are doing the same, particularly for current affairs updates. The one hope that "the book" will carry on for a time yet seems to lie in Novel publication; not everyone wants to stare at a screen for hours or print off a 500 page novel to avoid buying the book, whether new or used. As well, what can easily replace Reading In Bed before 'lights out'? But then what lies just around the corner in this accelerating technological age? Time was when books didn't exist - are we moving fast into another book-free era, with far different opportunities for absorbing infotainment? One couldn't be blamed for thinking so.