It's getting better all the time.

If this is true, it represents a fundamental change in our approach to digitality. When personal computers were in their infancy we raced through numerous formats that, being platform dependent, were outmoded almost as fast as we used them. With each new computer we realized that documents that we'd saved in a particular format were no longer accessible from the new machine. Cathy Davidson recently wrote about this issue, reminding us that for the time being, even with very real advances on the digital front, paper still has certain definite advantages:

For me, the biggest problem with born-digital electronic publishing is that it relies on whatever technology exists at the time you publish. Platforms change; websites go defunct. Lots gets left behind. I can't predict if my blog will be viewable by readers two years from now, let alone a dozen years or two hundred years.

When I write a book, I want it to last, which is why I choose to publish my books on paper, not just on a url. Paper remains the best technology when you're writing for posterity. The history paperbacks I bought for $9.95 a decade ago sit on my bookshelf now, pretty much as they did when I first read them. They require no upkeep, batteries, uploads, downloads, rebooting, or software updates, nothing, really, except an occasional dusting or pleasant rereading.

Still, there have been major advances is storage systems and technologies. And some things just aren't the sort of item that can be stored on paper.

Go to: Holding on / Letting go.