I read somewhere that digital paper (I think they called it "liquid paper") is almost ready for marketing. Though I have close to no idea as to just how this invention is supposed to work, or even precisely what it's supposed to do, if and when that happens, we'll be able to do some research on whether the feel of a book affects the way we relate to it. Is the experience of reading a digital copy of Winnie The Pooh the same as reading my old, dog-eared copy of the book? Do we transfer our memories of first reading a book to its pages, which then return something of them to us when we read it again?

Letters, until recently, were written on paper, and senders and recipients alike found meaning not only in the words on the paper, but in the paper that was used. Stationery was important. It was supposed to represent the person writing, to express something of their character. A scented page wasn't the right platform on which to write a business letter. E-letters, until now, have all been the same - essentially, text. But Microsoft has noticed this shortcoming and in its latest version of Outlook Express (5.0) has included a small assortment of digital stationeries from which we can choose in order to better get across what it is we want to express. Does digital stationery actually add character to our e-mail? I am, of course, not the right person to ask. For years I used a typewriter to write letters. My neighbors were always fascinated by the noise of the machine, but even more than that, they couldn't understand how a letter could be personal if it wasn't written by hand. I could never understand their argument.

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