dead or not dead.

I was just thinking about dying technologies. Were people upset when the scrolls were phasing out? I imagine that it wouldn't have been talked about to the extent that we worry about the death of print these days, but the idea must have come up. Did people say, it's just not going to be the same flipping over pages. I'm going to miss the smoothness and continuity that a scroll provides. Flipping pages in a book is so jumpy. So disconcerting.

These days, I'm not exactly worried about books. At least for a while. I feel confident that they will stay around because recent examples we have of changing technology. People were worried that photography would mean the end of painting in the 20s. But we still have painting. And even though photography has become digital, we still use film photography, even if it's more of an art form. In fact, we still even use black and white film photography. My guess right now is that print will keep going. It might be reserved for more the less mundane, everyday types of expression. I think I'm okay with that. Print is beautiful, and I think I will enjoy not seeing marketing material plastered all over beautiful pieces of paper.

But, scrolls did die out and become obsolete, so I guess it's possible that we might loose books. That makes me sad to think about. But I guess it will be okay. Things are always changing, aren't they.