It is often predicted that printed newspapers and books will disappear entirely because everything will be readable online at no cost. I completely disagree with this forecast: print has proven unexpectedly durable, and the assumption that online content will remain free is already out of date.
First, the death of print has been announced for decades, yet physical books continue to sell in enormous numbers. Many readers actively prefer paper: it causes less eye strain, is free of notifications, and offers a sensory experience — the weight, the smell, the shelf — that screens cannot copy. Print sales in many countries have remained stable or even grown, driven partly by young readers, and studies repeatedly suggest that comprehension is deeper when reading on paper. Books are also bought as gifts and displayed as possessions, roles a digital file can never fill. A minority preference this strong does not shrink to nobody.
Second, the idea that everything online will be free rests on a misunderstanding of publishing economics. Quality journalism and writing are expensive to produce, and as advertising revenue has proved unreliable, the industry has shifted decisively towards paywalls and subscriptions. Leading newspapers now earn more from digital subscribers than from print, which demonstrates that people already pay to read online. In other words, even where paper declines, paying for reading does not disappear — it merely changes form.
In conclusion, I fully disagree with the claim on both counts. Printed books and newspapers will keep a loyal, if smaller, market thanks to genuine advantages of paper, while high-quality online content is becoming less free, not more. The future of reading is a mixture of formats, not the extinction of print.