On books vs. the stories within
My focus when partaking of an accumulated work of written word has always been on the story itself. The ideas and plot and characters presented transcend the physical media within which they are presented. But I know from reading various forums, including that-site-which-shall-not-be-named, that many people steadfastly cling to their tomes of dead trees with a fervor that seems unshakable in the face of technology. The smell of mold ridden paper, the tactile sensation of flipping through the pages, the collectibility of a treasured collection of ideals... I understand the value of collecting an antiquated form of presentation, but does it truly add anything to the story telling experience? I liken it to vinyl records; the ability to touch what you are partaking of, that tactile and physical wholly personable experience with the media with which you are interacting can be a powerful motivator, but to try to convince me that Spotify is inferior because it is new and digital and convenient seems deplorable. When I read the same story on a Kindle are we not experiencing the same thing? Does the fact that I carry my entire library of 900+ books with me in my pocket dilute my experience? I can zoom, and dictionary, and Wikipedia, and translate literally at the touch of my finger. I can highlight and make notes, I can scan the book without losing my place, without ever needing a bookmark. What am I missing by not having dedicated and decidedly wasteful space in my home for storing my leaves of enlightenment?
I'm a kindler myself, and have been known to tap the page of a paper book and wonder why the text wasn't progressing.
But I do have a soft spot for the tangibleness of printed books. For one thing, I hate that Amazon decides whether I can "loan" particular titles to my friends. Every time I see that loaning is not enabled, it pisses me off. I have no problem with the author getting their due. But my cousin and I buy many more books when we can share and swap favorites - not to mention that the cost of promotion and printing is now down to labor and pixels. I end up keeping paper copies of my favorites for analog user recommendations.
I also enjoy the art of older book binding. A different sort of culture, where people did not let books lay on the ground out of respect for the intellect that created it.
Am I going back to a physical library? Unlikely. But there's no need to distain one of the evolutionary steps of the art.
First of all, I like your Title and want to come back to that in a minute.
I grew old on paper books and for almost a decade have converted almost completely to ebooks. I've even grown away from the physical library, at least our local one.
But my enjoyment of 'the stories within' is still accompanied by my fossilized memories of bookstores and libraries. I imagine it's a recollection that will go the way of soda fountains and horse drawn carriages. Does that make me sad? No. What newer generations never had, they never miss.
Those memories come in handy when I'm reading Borges' The Library of Babel or Murakami's Kafka on the Shore or even Robin Sloan's Mr. Penumbra's 24 hour Bookstore. But I still enjoy Sherlock Holmes even though I've never lit a gas-lamp, never rode a hansom, never played a violin, and to date haven't visited London.
Well, this has rambled on long enough. I'll get back to my fascination with your post title some other time.