Death of the book?

Razia Iqbal

So the Queen of endorsements, Oprah Winfrey, has come out and said that Amazon's Kindle is "life-changing".

Could this shift the e-book reader away from the niche market and into the mainstream?
And should we care?

I love the physicality of books; there is something special about opening a new novel, or sitting in a book-lined room and perusing through an old one, which is so much more preferable to having all my books hidden in an electronic gadget.

However, I'm not sure the issue here is about being a luddite. It was only a matter of time before books caught up with other art forms such as music, movies and television. And it will be a while yet before the advent of the Kindle or Sony's Reader shuts down any libraries or bookshops. So, the death of the book isn't being announced any time soon.

But the issue of celebrity endorsement though is a fascinating one. Oprah's opinion can change a writer's fortunes, and it's not just her literary recommendations that people pay attention to. Let's not forget that when she endorsed Barack Obama for President, a study by economists at the University of Maryland showed that Winfrey's nod would give the Democratic nominee one million extra votes.

So, the fact that she is saying Amazon's Kindle is the "wave to the future" must have brought more than a smile on the faces of those running the show at Amazon.

For all that she has done for books and publishing, her very endorsement for this e-book may reignite a slow-burning fire: The next step for Amazon could be making a bid for the best literary agencies, thereby making a much shorter route from the writer to the reader.

And that really would be a revolution in books and how they are produced.