Last week I saw a commercial for the Kindle, which is now touting a hot and fresh reduced price tag of $99. Now I don't have anything against the Kindle; if I read more I myself would probably own one. I do however own an iPad, but I don't use it for reading. I also do not believe the Kindle is killing publishing. People still enjoy the tangible nature of a book or a magazine over digital flipping for the time being. My only beef with this commercial is the way in which they seemed to degrade the greatness of a common bookstore. Advert to follow...
While not an outright slam on bookstores, the suggestive nature of the brick and mortar warehouse of books being unimportant and eventually becoming irrelevant is what comes through to me.
Such a shame.
This past weekend I drove past a Border's bookstore in my hometown that had been there for the past 15+ years. This time, there was a huge "STORE CLOSING FOREVER" sign across the front of the building with several other "EVERYTHING MUST GO" signs strewn about. This was a gigantic store on the corner of a very busy intersection, and who knows what's going to replace it now. I remember hanging out at the bookstore in high school for no particular reason. Sitting around at the in-store coffee shop, relaxing in an over-stuffed chair reading various magazines and books. And now this store will be gone forever quite soon.
Is this generation pushing out the classic bound book? I certainly hope not, and don't necessarily think so. If you look at any IKEA advertisement or catalog spread of a living room or bedroom, there's always bookshelves abound that are positively filled to the brim with books (whether they are real or not is questionable.) I have always wanted a massive bookshelf stuffed with books, and not just for show or decorative flair or for using one inconspicuous book as a switch-lever for entrance to a secret room, but to actually read them and use them for reference! While I understand that places going out of business and liquidating assets is a common occurrence these days, it is still a shame to see a landmark of my youth disappear.
Ahh, a classic.
I hope the seemingly dying appeal of books, which single-handedly propelled human civilization from the caves to the 'burbs, will recoil and bounce back. Not simply because I myself am in the publishing and printing industry, but because books hold a special place in the formation of modern society, and seeing that vanish would be a terrible (however unlikely) sight. If Hollywood needs to do a reboot, they should do The Pagemaster (remember that one?!), to make books seems somewhat exciting again!
