Reflections on media

I guess I saw the writing on the wall a long time ago, but last year I started to believe it. Consequently I chose to be more strategic about a lot of things. One area was my physical media collection. I resold and threw out a lot of music, movies, and books I had no use for anymore. I have very few games for my '90s consoles and stone-age computer, so I kept all of them.

For Christmas I got a huge CD/DVD binder, which I filled with all my DVDs and Blu-Rays. Those movie cases were taking up a lot of space, so I threw them out to reduce clutter. Now I could walk from my office door to my chair without tripping over piles of junk. Uncovering the peeling vinyl floor was a proud moment for me.

I lost something in that, and I don't mean the movie cases themselves. I lost the possibility of sitting in my office chair and gazing at my movie library, every title arrayed before me. Each title would evoke memories of the plot, the characters, the dialogue, the action, the times when I used to pick out one of them in the spur of the moment and be transported for 2 hours, back when I was a bachelor and my time was disposable. That just doesn't happen anymore.

Flipping through the binder requires a bit more intent. But it's like flipping through a photo album. Because I rarely have 2 hours to spare, the memories suffice most of the time.

Less can be said for my stock of ebooks. Some are files on my phone formatted for Kindle or OverDrive. Most I don't even own; they exist in cyberspace at the behest (or forbearance, depending on how you look at it) of Amazon's server admins. Regardless of whether I own the files or not, they barely exist. I can access them whenever I want to, but the wanting to depends on their being present. Out of sight, out of mind.

Not so for physical books, the highest tier of media. Is there a better combo of form and function than the printed word, pressed and bound? I think not.

My books occupy a box and several shelves in my office. Their presence avails anyone who wanders past the chance to read them, a hand always extended in invitation. Because of this they cannot be forgotten.

As always, let me know what you think in the comments. If you like sci-fi, check out my books Seeds of Calamity and Tendrils to the Moon. You can find extended previews for each here and here.