Steve's barking at what's going to become of the written word ( slightly more boring then usual)

In the near future I don't see newspapers that are made of paper.There will be no more books that are made of paper. Every thing will be done on some sort o electronic delivery system. Why may you ask? That's quite simple the cost.  It is so much cheaper to have electronic magazines, newspapers, and books. Publishers will no longer have to buy paper, they will no longer have warehouse their wares, nor will they have to deal with returns, which I understand can be a real pain and quite expensive. Perhaps because the expense to produce a magazine, books, and newspapers a whole new slew of publishers will pop up and variety will be king.
Unfortunately we will lose jobs and bookstore and magazine stands will no longer exist as we know them but I don't see anyway around it. The good authors will still be paid their high rate of advancement, even though the price of magazines, newspapers and books should go down.
What will be missing is how to entice the person who sees a story on the cover of the magazine or newspaper and buy the paper or magazine. The same is true for the person who who buys a book after reading the jacket. I'm sure that the new publishers and even the old publishers will figure a way to separate the public from it's money.
He one thing I'm surprised that e-book aren't subsidised yet. I pad's and e-book readers will probably be subsidised soon just as cell phone telephones are.