The first generation of the Amazon Kindle was released on November 19, 2007. Within a matter of months, several other e-readers were released as well, all of them selling abundantly. The kindle’s success was not just a fluke, nor a thoughtless series of actions. In the very near future, the printed word will become nearly extinct, whether we want it to or not.

There are several problems with the printed word: it wastes materials, can cause injuries (such as back injuries)and denies people the ability to move forward and adapt to modern technology. The human race wants to advance technologically, and the continued distribution of printed words is counterintuitive to this end.

To print a novel, a newspaper, or a magazine, hundreds of pieces of paper are used. On these pages is ink, a precious resource that can be expensive. Hundreds of thousands of books are printed that have hundreds of pages and thousands of cartridges of ink, but they are never read. The average ink cartridge has enough ink for about 190 pages. The average novel is currently about 450 pages, meaning that it requires not only 225 different sheets of paper, but also three ink cartridges, all to print one copy of the novel. However, with e-books, there is no paper and there is no ink. Instead, there are words on a screen that, yes, requires materials to create, but it is used everyday. Books, however, are not. And while opposing opinions may argue that it is much more dangerous for e-readers to be made, and that the factories where they are put together in China aren’t safe, one must keep in mind the economical advantages that e-readers offer. Not only does it help reduce unemployment in China by hiring new employees to make the device, it also allows millions of readers to buy one device and suddenly have access to hundreds of free books, as well as access to others that they can purchase at any time. Instead of paying money for a printed book, e-reader owners will likely find that they can download the book for free on their e-reader.

It is a commonly known fact that books are heavy. When you carry them around all day, they begin to feel heavier and heavier until you can simply not take it anymore. You need to get these books off of your back, because your back is aching from the weight. The burdens some carry can cause back damage, back aches, and other countless injuries. This problem is exceptionally troublesome for high school students: as the Globe found earlier this year, the average high schooler’s backpack weighs between 18.3 pound average.  This is made worse by physical books, some of which can weigh several pounds.

However, e-readers have the same weight no matter what the length of the book being read. Many schools have acknowledged this and have begun to require that each student have an iPad, on which they will be able to read and annotate their textbooks for classes.

The greatest problem with physical books is that they deny people the ability to move forward and to adapt to modern technology. People tend to like the feeling, the sound, of turning a page when reading. It’s not just books that have to acknowledge this: magazines and newspapers such as Newsweek and The New York Times need to acknowledge this as well, and that they have.

In the world of journalism, departing from the printed word may actually be an advantage.

It is quicker, easier, and cheaper to post breaking news stories on news websites, rather than waiting to print a full length story for the next issue. The New York Times alone updates their website several times an hour, providing an immediate report of what is going on in the world to places in the world that don’t receive the newspaper. Newsweek announced in October 2012 that they were discontinuing their printed magazine at the end of 2012, after 80 years of publication, in favor of a website. “Currently,” said editor in chief Tina Brown in her article announcing the cessation of the printed magazine, “39% of Americans say they get their news from an online source, according to a Pew Research Center study released last month. In our judgment, we have reached a tipping point at which we can most efficiently and effectively reach our readers in all-digital format. This was not the case just two years ago. It will increasingly be the case in the years ahead.”

This new website, Newsweek Global, features the same stories one would see in the magazine. The difference? There’s no additional cost, no additional weight, and the reader can read whenever, whatever, and wherever they want. In addition to their Daily Beast site, Newsweek is ahead of the curve.

While many readers hope that the printed word will continue, it likely will lose popularity in the years to come. It seems that in the next few years, printed books might become the record player of this generation: available at antique stores, for whomever chooses to linger in the past. The departure of the printed word will be the arrival of a new phase of human history: a time of technological prosperity without the threat of injury and waste of material.