Physical Books

The chipboard, leaves of paper, and glue are not the important aspects of books. The ideas themseleves remain useless unless they are consumed by an audience. Making ideas accessible to people is the most important thing about a book. Thus the best book is the one that delivers its ideas to its audience most effectively.

Physical books are no longer the most effective means of idea transmission.

More and more, physical books seem a luxury at best. It's been years since I've felt awake enough and at leisure enough to sit with a book long enough to lose myself in its ideas. Physical books demand undivided time in addition to undivided attention in order to consume them. Sometimes the only way I feel I can justify that time is if I'm connecting my reading to other ideas and tracking those connections in some way. Physical books are not the best format for doing that.

Ideas packaged in html, pdf, or other digital text files can be expanded with searchable notes, endlessly marked up, backed up and stored in numerous locations. The digital space to store a book is much less expensive than the physical space.

The time required to initially consume books becomes less expensive in audio format. The time to consume a book can be shared with time spent on chores, exercise, or other tasks that don't require much cognitive load. Services like audible pay for themselves, but apps like overdrive and libby through one's public library can make the ideas transmitted throughout communities extremely effective and efficient.

I don't think physical books will go away, but I do think people will re-think the place physical books will have in their lives. Maybe they will become interactive art pieces. Maybe they will become more durable, cleanable objects that can endure weather and abuse.