The book itself is a curious artifact, not showy in its technology but
complex and extremely efficient: a really neat little device, compact, often
very pleasant to look at and handle, that can last decades, even centuries.
It doesn't have to be plugged in, activated, or performed by a machine; all
it needs is light, a human eye, and a human mind. It is not one of a kind,
and it is not ephemeral. It lasts. It is reliable. If a book told you
something when you were fifteen, it will tell it to you again when you're
fifty, though you may understand it so differently that it seems you're
reading a whole new book.
Ursula K. Le Guin"Staying Awake"
from Harper's Magazine (Feb. 2008)
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