I'm conflicted with tangibility. On the one hand, I do enjoy holding, touching and even enjoying the smell (like new car smell, books and of course food) of things. You're aware of my bragging about my fountain/dip pens. I love the feel of the pen, the scratching of the nib and the curvy letters. On the other, hand, I do like digital options. Music and books in particular. I still have a lot of my CD, as a just in case. I listened to vinyl as a kid and I enjoyed the lush sounds but I so hate the scratching!
I think it's a balance and a choice. If some prefer analog to digital or vice versa, that's fine. I like a mix of the 2. In the end, we need to cater to both and it's still a good skill to fix mechanical/physical objects. As always, it's trying to find a golden means.
A healthy balance of both is fine. But the digital is ephemeral and I do think we lose something with it, particularly with music. Books, too. It’s going to be harder to preserve things in bits and bytes than we think.
That’s a good question. I argue books and music are good starts. Of course, our traditional cultural artifacts like sculpture and paintings need to be preserved as well, but precious few worth anything in terms of actual artistry and merit have been produced in a few generations. But art and music should not be strictly digital.
Movies, too; although I am personally not as concerned about cinema as music and books, it is important and should be preserved despite my feelings on the matter.
It's personally encouraging to see you bring up this subject, because I credit you with shifting my buying habits towards the physical. I first heard about "Pulp Rock" on David Stewart's YouTube and promptly purchased the Kindle version. Then, after I looked into your other work and decided to read "The Last Ancestor," I sprung for old fashioned dead trees and ink. Since then, the majority of titles I've purchased from PulpRev/Indie authors have been physical copies. The slight extra cost and waiting time to get them are more than worth it, and the corpo-rats can't delete the analog.
Well thanks I’m happy to hear you were intrigued enough to snag a few books. That physical books, etc., can’t be altered from afar at the whims of the powers that be is but one huge selling point, but also the fact that a thing takes up space makes it feel more real.
I’m running into a slight conundrum though as I revise a few of my books for release with the new illustrations pursuant to the Kickstarter: the digital downloads can be updated, but I feel like I’m cheating the people, like you, who have purchased first editions. What to do, what to do.
The anti-hipster sentiment is a Bugman mindset. I'm a proud hipster aesthete
You know what? Same here. “Oh, you like high quality stuff? What are you, a SNOB?”
Yes. Yes I am.
Alexander,
I'm conflicted with tangibility. On the one hand, I do enjoy holding, touching and even enjoying the smell (like new car smell, books and of course food) of things. You're aware of my bragging about my fountain/dip pens. I love the feel of the pen, the scratching of the nib and the curvy letters. On the other, hand, I do like digital options. Music and books in particular. I still have a lot of my CD, as a just in case. I listened to vinyl as a kid and I enjoyed the lush sounds but I so hate the scratching!
I think it's a balance and a choice. If some prefer analog to digital or vice versa, that's fine. I like a mix of the 2. In the end, we need to cater to both and it's still a good skill to fix mechanical/physical objects. As always, it's trying to find a golden means.
xavier
A healthy balance of both is fine. But the digital is ephemeral and I do think we lose something with it, particularly with music. Books, too. It’s going to be harder to preserve things in bits and bytes than we think.
Alexander,
I concur with you about preserving digital. I'm not blind to the challenges for future generations.
Now, let me ask you a pointed question: what cultural products should we preserve in physical media? Why?
I'm asking myself the same questions.
xavier
Xavier,
That’s a good question. I argue books and music are good starts. Of course, our traditional cultural artifacts like sculpture and paintings need to be preserved as well, but precious few worth anything in terms of actual artistry and merit have been produced in a few generations. But art and music should not be strictly digital.
Movies, too; although I am personally not as concerned about cinema as music and books, it is important and should be preserved despite my feelings on the matter.
It's personally encouraging to see you bring up this subject, because I credit you with shifting my buying habits towards the physical. I first heard about "Pulp Rock" on David Stewart's YouTube and promptly purchased the Kindle version. Then, after I looked into your other work and decided to read "The Last Ancestor," I sprung for old fashioned dead trees and ink. Since then, the majority of titles I've purchased from PulpRev/Indie authors have been physical copies. The slight extra cost and waiting time to get them are more than worth it, and the corpo-rats can't delete the analog.
Well thanks I’m happy to hear you were intrigued enough to snag a few books. That physical books, etc., can’t be altered from afar at the whims of the powers that be is but one huge selling point, but also the fact that a thing takes up space makes it feel more real.
I’m running into a slight conundrum though as I revise a few of my books for release with the new illustrations pursuant to the Kickstarter: the digital downloads can be updated, but I feel like I’m cheating the people, like you, who have purchased first editions. What to do, what to do.