Technology changes everything and you can’t un-invent disruptive tools once they enter the marketplace. E-readers and portable computers masquerading as phones have made the world’s libraries one click away.
But, I hope books will also continue to be available in paper.
Reading a book that is intended to be nothing more than a single story with a nice cover and an intriguing synopsis is a singular, special experience. The smell of the paper elicits warmth and flipping through the pages with your fingers lets you feel the shift of the story from its weight in your hands.
Ebooks are also great. They’re convenient. They’re easy to scan, search and take with you. But, once the phones over take e-readers and kindles and nooks are replace with phone apps, then society could forget what made books so special.
Books could be absorbed into the hundreds of other lull-filling apps crowding your computer screen. Two generations later and books may no longer be exceptional, they’ll just be another thing to fill your time at the doctors office, on equal par with a game about pandas or pictures of your friends having fun somewhere without you.
No matter how cool and handy e-reading apps or tablets may become, I hope their will always be a place for printed books in this world. For almost 700 years they have held an important place in our lives.
I hope technology doesn’t ruin take that away.