LONDON — A few weeks ago, some friends had a baby daughter and I sent her a set of beautifully bound literary classics that I have loved reading over the years. Excuse the soppiness, but I hoped she would enjoy them as much as I had. Even so, no sooner had I ordered them than I wondered if I had blundered.
Left - Jes Aznar for The New York Times
Joao Pina for The New York Times - A bookshop in the LX Factory complex in Lisbon; the aesthetic appeal of a finely made and printed book makes the form’s survival more likely.
The same question applies to dozens of other endangered objects that are familiar and, in some cases, much loved aspects of our daily lives. It is easy to spot the likely casualties: anything whose function can be fulfilled efficiently — if not more so — by a cellphone, computer or another digital gizmo. Taking photos, checking the time, making phone calls, listening to music, totting up numbers and hundreds of other activities can now be executed by the same small device rather than with a camera, watch, telephone, calculator, or whatever. Many of those things will disappear, though some may survive, but which ones?
No comments:
Post a Comment