Started with clay.Carved in a cave.Berries on stone.Inventories,named
for possession and ownership has always been fundamental.
Sumerian scripts.Alpha Beta.Papyrus.Tools change.Beaten reeds
to digital screens.What remains?Museums?Antique typewriters?
Photostat machines?Fax?Modes change.The question remains-
what is worth preserving?Memory over time?Tales untold on tongues silenced?
To speak is a key-but people forget.They need tools to remember themselves-
who they once were(and can be again-and here is where paper comes in.
Forests are killed so books can be pulped,remaindered.
GOOGLE seeks to digitalize all copyright free materials
All the pine plantations in this world cannot record all our dreams
Literature is always partial(to editing-selective as who reads..
Reeds are still beaten into paper for books forgotten
Same as e-books do not guarantee perception
It is we who choose our formats who lose
the punch of typewriter keys,the click of carriages ,stained berry fingers
and illuminating manuscripts who feel the need to preserve heritage.
Whether books are burned,pulped,ignored or forgotten is only one issue
What we value-is entirely another...
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