Nobody will buy printed books and newspapers in the future because of the availability of these resources online without cost. This could lead to many challenges like how publishers and authors are supposed to earn? Also, many authors prefer reading hard copies over reading online.
Free availability of reading material online is not an economically viable option. Earning is one of the primary motivations that authors write quality books, the same goes for publishers. Putting everything online without cost will demotivate people attached to this profession. For instance, a study published by Amazon shows that most of the income an author earns is from their online sales. So, offering books online free of cost is not an option and will not contribute to the extinction of printed books and newspapers.
Also, many readers prefer reading from the printed books. Books offer a more satisfying experience to the reader, developing an emotional connection with the reader. Sometimes readers have memories associated with books, especially legacy and religious books like Harry Potter and the Bible respectively. A study conducted by Oxford concluded that for keen readers, reading from a printed copy is more enjoyable as compared to reading on their laptop. Therefore, the online availability of the books will not affect the sales of printed books in the future.
Offering books and newspapers over the Internet without cost is not realistic, as authors and publishers are not getting their share. Doing so is also an act of promoting piracy which is highly prohibited among authors. On the other side, reading from paper based books is a preference for some readers, so they will continue to buy books in these forms even if they are available online freely.