There's actually no mention of paperbacks or "hard copies" anywhere on their release. So while it may seem like the world of contemporary books is ending, it's not as bad as you thought.

Let's take a look at why e-books are outpacing their hardcover counterparts. I'll start with price. Multiple times, I found references to the average hardcover price being $26 so I will present that figure. Amazon's own news release says that of the 630,000 e-books in their Kindle store, 510,000 of them cost $9.99 or less. The rest cost around $12.99. In either case, if consumers already have e-reader capable devices like tablets, and price were a factor, there's quite a difference. There's also the fact that the prices of dedicated E-Reader devices like the Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook have been coming down ever since Apple released the iPad. Amazon, in fact, announced just a few days ago another Kindle reader device ; this one the cheapest yet with a $139 pricepoint. Five or six hardcover volumes at retail + tax and we're looking at the price of a reader already!

Another reason hardcover sales are on the decline is the emphasis put on portability. In this digital age, our devices are getting smaller and thinner; and beyond that, they're cramming more features than ever before into ever-shrinking spaces. Hardcover books don't fit into that world without effort. They're a reminder of an analog time, with a price tag they're supposed to merit but anymore many view those benefits as negatives.