Books and shelves

When I was a kid most people I knew had collections of books and records.

These were proudly and openly displayed in lounge rooms and hallways.

When CDs arrived nothing really changed.

Only real difference was CDs required a lot less shelf space than records.

Fast forward just a few brief years and my teenage children both have quite extensive music collections.

Except you can only hear their music not see it. As their music exists only as digital files.

With the uptake of the Kindle and iPad who's to say that book laden shelves won't one day fall from favour.

And even more hard to fathom - libraries may soon exist only as websites from which you download books.

I'll all for change and progress. But a world without books sounds like a very different world to me.