I’m sure that as time passes, more and more of our books will be electronic. It makes me sad, because there are some things about snuggling up with a good book that a Nook or a Kindle can’t replace, no matter how convenient they are. Apparently, Mark O’Connell feels the same way:

“I don’t look forward to a future in which my Kindle (or whatever device inevitably succeeds it) is the only book on the shelf. But it’s a future I’m fairly convinced is awaiting us, and it’s one that I, as a consumer, am playing my part in advancing us toward… But then I realize that the thing is just too useful, too crazily convenient a tool to not embrace. And then I tell myself that it’s not possible, anyway, to shelve the advance of technology, and that history is filled with examples of beautiful things being supplanted by more efficient versions of those things. Ultimately, you’re never going to win an argument against convenience, no matter how much you love the anachronistic, heavy, unwieldy, and beautiful thing you want to save.”

And that’s really true, isn’t it? Food may not taste as great when it’s cooked in the microwave, but it’s too convenient not to use it sometimes. But there is something special about the smell of something in the oven or simmering on the stove, and we give that up for the sake of convenience.

Mark O’Connell is a staff writer for The Millions. He is a writer and academic who lives in Dublin, Ireland. His website is www.markoconnell.net.  This quote came to me by way of Shelf Awareness.