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Old 12th Jul 2021, 11:31 am   #46
Uncle Bulgaria
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Join Date: May 2016
Location: Cornwall, UK.
Posts: 2,315
Default Re: The end of physical media.

We have CDs, tapes, DVDs, records and thousands of books. All are in use. One aspect of physical media that is overlooked is their bodily memory.

In discussion with a friend, I can be reminded of a phrase or idea in a book, and go and find it. The act of reading means I have an idea that it was near the end at the bottom of the right hand page, or wherever it may have been. If that were a PDF or on an e-reader I'd have no idea as the act of reading is divorced from physicality.

In a similar way, making a mix-tape I can think of the track I should have next because all the music I have is redolent of a time and place, so I know it all and can put my finger on the physical recorded media.

Books in particular are like artworks - they populate a place. A house without books is uninhabited, in my opinion, no matter how much the entire wealth of knowledge is contained on an electronic device somewhere. I can open a 200 year old book as easily as one published last week, which is of course not the case with digital files.
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