I. Love. Books. And I realize the value I place on literature. It’s such delectable art!
I’m not old. Perhaps, though, I might be old school when it comes to books. As far as formats go, hardbacks are my all-time favorite but an occasional luxury for me. These days, I think I’m pretty split between the number of paperbacks and ebooks I read. During my book shopping days from adolescence to adulthood, I’ve never viewed my book purchases only as money dished out for paper, ink, printing costs, etc. When I’m buying books, I’m investing currency in return for the literature other human beings have written, not for the mere paper and ink from printing machines.
After all, if I just wanted a stack of paper and some ink, I could get it from Staples, or from Dunder Mifflin Sabre. [Insert laughter here.]
Old schoolish as I may be, and the fervent believer in hard copies that I am, I don’t see the ebooks I download as inherently less valuable than print books, since it’s the literature—the words, the ideas, the questions, the stories—that I’m after. And hey, I don’t claim to be an ultimate expert on book pricing, but I know there’s absolutely no such thing as a good book or ebook that’s written, polished, and published for free. In whatever format it’s produced in, it costs somebody (and teams of somebodies) worthy hours, dollars, lifeblood, and life to get a piece of literature out there for humanity to consume.
Gee. If I spent less time on social media and more time with my nose back in my books, I might not have any notion of my being old school, here. I’ve got the notion, nonetheless. C’est la vie.
Prismatic Prospects 