Since when did paper become such a villain? And at what point did the electronic space become the saviour of our planet? The majority of paper harvested in today’s world comes from sustainable plantations, not old growth forests, and the major paper producers typically comply with stringent forestry stewardship standards.

Moreover, the paper used in manufacturing books is miniscule – take a look at the volumes of wood used in manufacturing napkins, toilet paper and the like.

When considering the impact of paper on wood usage, a balanced view would consider the sheer amount of wood consumed for heat and cooking in third world countries. Or perhaps consider the growing problem of e-waste and the energy consumed in the manufacture and support of the electronics business.

Manufacturing paper does have its downsides – it’s energy heavy and water-rapacious. The good news is that most all of the major paper producers now practice highly effective forms of energy efficiency (including the burning of unrecyclable paper and wood tailings to make electricity) and water recycling. Our governments could learn a thing or two from these guys.

What then for the future of printed books? Yes, we should expect them to decline in part. I for one don’t want my daughters lugging to school a bag of textbooks – much better that they can download texts on to a small electronic device. However, when I travel overseas I’ll still want to buy a paperback at the airport; a novel I can read when the cabin crew say I’m not allowed to use electronic devices, which doesn’t run out of batteries and can’t crash due to a software problem. The same applies when I sunbake on the beach – to the best of my knowledge, e-readers still can’t pass the sun, sand and surf test: sun on the screen, sand in the pages, and water on the text.

I think e-readers are a fantastic idea. But to paint such a one-sided picture of the ‘evils’ of paper does your author no favours, nor does it accurately reflect the intellect of your audience (who, I expect, are by nature quite well-read!). Be realistic about the impact of e-readers on paper-based books, and accept that to improve literacy standards, we should actually aim for all books to be available in all forms, to all the world. All going well, the opportunity of e-readers is to further improve standards of literacy around the world, perhaps leading to an increased standard of living, and hopefully leading to a stronger sense of environmental stewardship.

By the way, I can’t help but laugh at an article I read today about a provider arbitrarily clearing its global network of e-readers of a particular novel, due to a DRM issue. Imagine opening your limp-back book one day, to find the publisher had magically removed the type? At least when we buy a paper-based book, it stays bought!