Comment by vidarh

1 day ago

I don't think I could go this far, because I'd have too many devices to switch between.

But I like the overall idea.

It also fits in well with something I used to think about a lot: Computers and the internet have caused a major shift toward hiding a lot of things that used to be much more apparent.

E.g. your important papers would be in a physical file. Your books would be on the shelves. Your art on the walls. Visitors and family members could see them. Quite a few things I have in common with my late dad were a result of finding his books on the shelves as physical objects.

Now most of the books I've bought (and a couple I've written) over the last couple of decades are on my phone or my computer, and not visible to anyone who doesn't know where to look.

I've tried to be deliberate about showing my son the books I think he'll like, but those of my dads books, and manuscripts he wrote, that I ended up picking up and reading were only partially those he showed me - many more were books he had no inkling I'd like, or didn't think were age appropriate, that I stumbled on over the years.

Moving all of those things into files on general purpose devices, away from physical objects, feels like it is unmooring us from parts of our immediate surroundings.

There’s also a distinct joy of wondering through a library looking at the spines of books on the shelves, occasionally pulling one down to scan the table of contents, and taking one or a few of those to a table to read a couple pages…

I’ve started to undo it. Not everything, but I went back and bought used copies of every ebook that I wanted to keep forever.

It was pretty cheap (many used books are $1) and feels good to have my full library browsable and free from any platform or company.