Death of the Inscription?

On Wednesday, I was reading this Times article:

Book Inscriptions Reflect Personal Histories, by Susan Dominus

In the article, Dominus highlights the idea that the inscription could go away if our society completely embraces digital books, and abandons physical books. She was thinking specifically about personal inscriptions - when one writes a note to a friend on the occasion of giving them the book, for example. I’d like to think of this in a bit different context: when the author signs or inscribes the book.

Both in our personal collection, as well as the collection of the Amon Carter, there are many signed books. One of the best I have seen at the Carter was a book about the photographs of Ansel Adams, inscribed to Laura Gilpin, describing her as a “very great lady of photography,” and it had a cool little doodle as well. (The Carter has the book as Gilpin donated her papers, prints, negatives, and library to the Carter on her passing.) We have several (12, I think) signed books, and they are among our favorites. How does one get the author to sign your e-book? Do they sign the reader? Type a note into the document?

I know it’s not exactly the most earth-shattering concept, but it is one that is important to me, as well as to many other folks out there. Would you miss inscriptions?