Books have been with us for thousands of years. Are they going to become obsolete(陈旧的，adj) like so many other products once deemed indispensable? Under the onslaught（冲击，n） of technology progress, books seem increasingly outdated. However, the total numbers of books published each year is increasing defiantly.

It must be admitted that books are increasingly being replaced by others types of storage devices. Books are not suited for the storage of video and audio materials. Besides, compact（紧凑的，adj）disks and other new storage devices outstrip books in terms of storage capacity, cost effectiveness and user friendliness. It is said that all the books in an average library can be stored in dozens of compact disks, which also allow the user to search, copy and paste, all with a few strokes of the keyboard（键盘，n）. Interaction between the reader and material is also made possible by computer technology.

Meanwhile, there are strong signs that books are going to remain with us for a long time. Books are by far the most convenient way to disseminate（散布, vt） information. Just count the number of magazines published each day around the world. They are cheap, easy to carry and don't require electricity. Besides, a book allows you to read at your own pace: you can pause to ponder（沉思，vt） when necessary or you can skip some tedious（沉闷的，adj） parts. Books are tangible and give you a sense of achievement when you finish one whereas the completion of an e-book affords less satisfaction.

We can rest assured that books would and should not be replaced by some novel electronic devices. We have seen the folly（愚蠢, n） of such doom day predictions for the  radio with the advent of television. The fact remains that different types of media actually complement（补充, vt） rather than replace each other. There is every possibility that books will remain and improve as time goes by.