Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, It's a Book!

Hardly a day goes by that we don't hear or read of the imminent demise of "the book."  This comes from the interpretation of various tea leaves:

• people don't read anymore
• printed bound books kill trees and are too expensive to produce and keep in inventory, not to mention so heavy to carry
• if a child in a developing country had a e-reader of one sort or another, he could read something he's interested in, not just what happened to be donated
• passive learning or entertainment is out, interactive learning or entertainment is in -- books are passive

This book actually forces us to think about what is the definition of a book. To me, even a downloaded book is a book, so perhaps the definition of a book is similar to the definition of Art -- you'll know it when you see it, or like poetry -- it depends on your taste.