As ebooks, iPads, iPhones and netbooks start to dominate and change how we read, the question of whether printed books will still be around is a question that many of us are debating.

Many major book publishers are jumping ship to the technology savvy world with publishing giants Penguin Books recently making some bold experimental bets.

Using the iPad, Penguin Books recreated a ‘book’ incorporating interactive learning experiences. The new ebooks allow people to chat between other readers and explore other areas as though they are actually inside the book.

“The iPad represents the first real opportunity to create a paid distribution model that will be attractive to consumers,” said an excited John Makinson, CEO of Penguins Books, at FT’s Digital Media and Broadcasting Conference in May 2010. “The psychology of payment tablets is different to the psychology of a PC.”

However, Penguin are looking to go bigger than just the one device, with Makinson believing that ebooks will hit 10 per cent of book sales next year.

“We will be embedding audio, video and streaming into everything we do. The .epub format, which is the standard for ebooks at the present, is designed to support traditional narrative text, but not this cool stuff that we are now talking about.

“So for the time being at least we will be creating a lot of our content as applications, for sale on app stores and HTML, rather than in ebooks. The definition of the book itself is up for grabs.

iPad ebook from Apple

“We don’t know whether a video introduction will be valuable to a consumer. We will only find answers to these questions by trail and error.”

The team at Penguin Books have already met with key players in the industry (Apple, Amazon and Google) over the last few months to discuss plans and future developments for touch screen ebooks and whether Penguin would give a large percentage of sales to Apple. When asked whether they would give away 30 per cent of Penguin sales, Makinson responded by saying that this was better than the equivalent print agency model, in which publishers let retailers keep 50 per cent.

Many record labels are not enjoying the control Apple has over their industry, however Penguin sees it as a positive and exciting change and that it’s ”the opportunity to test and access consumer data.”

However, there is still the notion that Makinson would take more from Apple. “There is an argument for saying Apple needs the content, that they should be paying us for our content,” he said. However; the argument hasn’t worked.

Famous novel, Pride and Prejudice may come with the inclusion of videos of Keira Knightly and Colin Firth but, “We need to understand how much the consumer will pay for that, we need to engage in dynamic pricing.”

A device giving the Apple a run for its money is the Amazon Kindle first released in 2007. The device is used primarily for the rendering and displaying of ebooks and other digital media. It has been a huge success in the US allowing people to access a wide collection of books and journals to read while they are out and about.

A report in the Science Christian Monitor, said, “Many argue that, despite software that allows ebooks to be read on Smartphones, the Kindle retains an advantage. Its E-Ink display is so easy on batteries that it can go without a charge for two weeks, and it is easier on the eyes than the LCDs found on Blackberrys, iPhones, and other Smartphones.”

The first version of the Kindle sold out in 2007 (280,000) and since then the company has brought out three more versions with the latest version ‘Kindle 3′ launched in July 2010. With Amazon looking to expand its reach it has already recreated a Kindle version of the successful Amazon.co.uk in a bid to get more people downloading ebooks.

One of the bonuses coming out of the ebook and Kindle’s is that it is an innovative way for students to carry all of their textbooks and notes in one device. Instead of trailing all their books to and from the library, students can carry the electronic reading device much more easily.

However the concept of ebooks many not actually make books obsolete, well at least for a very long time. There are still a lot of things that need to be done and in order to make downloading books and texts a day to day task. For now libraries are still in business and books stores will still stock their shelves with printed copies of our favourite and new books each and every week.