Handwritten or typed, then neatly folded, and placed in an envelope. Sitting down to take the time to not only write a letter, then addresses it and pay for a stamp is essentially unheard of anymore. What happen to the days when walking to the mailbox to retrieve a letter from a long lost friend?
Now our world if full of instant gratification when it comes to “words”. Why send a letter when I can text someone, tweet them updates in 140 characters or less, or even stalk their life through all their mobile uploads on Facebook?
What about the value of a book? Does it even hold value anymore? I guess it depends on who you ask. People no longer want to sit down, get lost in another world of taking the time to interpret some authors thoughts when the can listen to the same information in a short abbreviated version by a simple YouTube search. Some author (her name is Christine Rosen, if you are interested) wrote, “Our willingness to follow a writer on a sustained journey that may at times be challenging and frustrating is less compelling than our expectation of being conveniently entertained.” People do not want to have to figure out what another person is trying to say if they can find an alternative and be entertained through the process. Do words strung together in sentences have value anymore?
Now I may stand alone in this opinion, but I would much have a book in my hand while reading than anything online. I tend to stay more focus and intrigued with the turn of each page the ability to highlight with a pen. As our more things become virtual and available through the internet, people tend to find online copies of books and read from nooks, but this is still not for me.
Where do you stand?