The Unthinkable.

The Borders bookstore down St Charles Avenue is going out of business. In fact, Borders itself is filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Last year marked an important change on Amazon.com : they now sell more e-books and e-readers than paperback hard-copy books. 

Perhaps that doesn't sound all that surprising until the implications are sounded out. People are buying e-books. There is a market for e-books that is growing daily, while the market for hard-copy books is shrinking. Encyclopedias sets are completely irrelevant now. Who needs to crack a dictionary when my phone can pull up 7 different dictionaries simultaneously? Oh, and I have a free dictionary on my kindle, too.

Could it be - is the thought even thinkable? - that we are headed toward a future without bound books? Mom and I were discussing this tonight, and at the suggestion, my every fiber shuddered in revolt - "No!" it cried, "they will never die out, they just can't! How could the human race give up the sweet scent of a newly bought book? The tactile sensation of turning delicate pages?"

I don't think they will disappear completely - not in my  lifetime (I hope). But...production will surely slow down. Getting a book with a spine will probably take longer and be a bit more difficult. But utter replacement by the electronic gods of this age? Surely not!

"Just think about how long books have been around," Mom pointed out.

True. There were stone tablets and papyrus and then bound paper and then handwritten books and then printing presses, and books and books and books. My mind can't even fathom a world without them.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOKS!

But haven't we seen so so so many other amazing and useful inventions give up their thrones to newer and more "useful" replacements? Horse and buggy/cart, cassette tapes, VHS tapes, arrows, revolvers, record players, land line telephones, ice boxes, and I'm sure there are thousands and thousands more that have slipped from society's memory.  Most of these items can still be found, but they're "retro," not mass-produced and only collectors tend to have them (or perhaps, those who can't afford a more expensive technology).

The above photo was found on a publisher's blog who was discussing this very issue, and I found it reasonably comforting to hear someone in the publishing industry reassuringly surmise that print books will never vanish. (Read his thoughts here.)

I wasn't sad to see cassettes become unnecessary, but I know my heart would be sorrowed if we ever did lose touch with bound, printed books. I may own a kindle (one of the best gifts ever!), and love it, but if I ultimately had to choose between it or real books, I wouldn't hesitate to keep paper under my fingertips.

On a totally unrelated note, I was singing the "Bed Intruder Song" inspired by Mr. Antoine Dodson, and it occurred to me to ask: DID they ever find that supposed rapist? I was so curious I wiki'ed it, but only managed to discover that Antoine has made enough off of song sales to move his family out of the projects and start up a t-shirt line (among other things.). You all know what this means, right?

There is potentially STILL A RAPIST ON THE LOOSE.

So please continue to HIDE yo' kids,
HIDE yo' wife,
and hide yo' husband too...

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