Okay, yeah, I know. It’s been a long time. What can I say? Deadlines and a kiddo on summer break make blogging fall on the priority list. What’s important is I’m here now and I have something to discuss that I’m still formulating my own opinions on.
The other day I was reading an article (“10 Ways to Find More Pleasure Every Day” by Paul Bloom, Real Simple, July 2010) about how to find more small pleasures every day. The suggestions included things like listening to a new favorite song on repeat and petting a dog–you know, simple things.
All well and good until I got to no. three. “Don’t buy boxed sets of DVDs.” The article sites economist Tyler Cowen, who says that “much of the joy we get from purchases lies in the experience of seeking them out, getting them home and opening them up.”
This simple statement gave me food for thought for the rest of the day. Why? Well, I agree with him. Case in point, I bought myself the collector’s edition box set of Buffy the Vampire Slayer last December. At first, I was excited to watch the series all the way through again. But I soon got bored with them. Not because I don’t enjoy the series. Not because the show is boring. But, I believe, the easy access made the need to watch less urgent.
So it begs the question: Are we convenience-ing the pleasure out of our lives? Are we so addicted to instant gratification that we’ve lost the ability to slow down and savor life’s little rituals? And has the ease of which we acquire things reduced our respect for them?
In a way, these every day rituals become a sort of micro Hero’s Journey–seeking out a desired object (a quest), offering up payment (sacrifice) to receive it, bringing it back to our homes (the return), ritualistically unwrapping it, etc.
Okay maybe it’s a stretch. But this whole thing got me thinking about ebooks. Let me preface this by saying I am not anti-ebook, per se. Yes, ancillary issues revolving around ebooks make my life more difficult (piracy, pricing wars, etc). But I’m not against them. I just think that maybe we’re putting too much emphasis on what is, at this point, amounts to industry chicken little-ism (A BEA statistic related that a mere 4% of book sales in April 2010 resulted from electronic copies. My own royalty statements bear out this stat btw). Now all that said I’m sure I’ll still get comments from ebook enthusiasts for what I’m about to say, but oh well.
Here goes: Ebooks are not as awesome as paper books and never will be. Why? The visceral ritual of it.
Two scenarios for you.
1. You hear one of your favorite authors has a new release. You make time during your lunch break to head to a book retailer (doesn’t matter which one, it’s still a quest). Your stomach quickens a bit when you see it on the shelf. The scent of the book store–paper and coffee and knowledge–temps you into browsing a bit longer than you intended. Maybe you grab another book or two. Then you pay for your purchases at the check out (an altar?) and escape the cozy confines of the store and go back to the real world. All day at work you’re thinking about that moment when you finally get home and can dive into the story. Maybe you go to a special favorite bistro to read in solitude, maybe you draw a bath, maybe you find your favorite chair and turn off the phone. Either way, it’s a ritual.
This scenario also applies to online orders of physical books. Except replace going to the store to going to the mailbox. The little spark in your gut when you see the Amazon package. The gods have bestowed a gift upon your mailbox! Rejoice!
Scenario 2:
You hear your favorite author has a new release. You turn on your laptop. Log in to ebook web site. Click link to purchase book. Maybe you add a couple of impulse buys that you’ll maybe get around to one day. Turn on your ereader. Oh look, there’s the file. Read.
Okay, I know. I’m totally biased.
But I’ve been thinking about these things lately. How home baked cookies are always better than prepackaged. How cooking a meal for my family is always more enjoyable that going through McDonalds. How I (sometimes) enjoy the ritual of hand washing dishes.
Call me a Luddite. Call me a kook. I don’t give a damn. As humans, we need rituals. They give weight to the every day. They break up our fast-paced, breakneck lives. They make up slow down. Ponder. Savor.
Now. The argument could be made that rituals evolve. Maybe one day people will feel this visceral nostalgia for ebooks that many of us feel for print books. I think that’s true. But a primitive side of me inherently distrusts feeling invested and in love with a virtual thing. Although, on the other hand, I love my characters and they are virtual. So who knows?
I’d love to hear your opinions on this. But please remember to be respectful of other’s opinions. Because, verily, I will not hesitate to wield the Red Pen of Doom. Go!