Shopping for books online as an experience can be likened to
the experience of looking at photographs of food. You can’t taste the food or
smell it, you can only briefly imagine what it would be like to have it. An
experience which doesn’t compare to actually sampling it in reality. One cannot
say that one has ‘experienced’ the food simply by looking at the photograph,
unlike if you had had the physical matter in front of you, to rouse your senses
- taste, touch, smell etc, then you have truly ‘experienced’ the food. I’d
argue that buying books online is very similar to this notion.
Why settle for limited experience? Why take a backseat view
when you could be up on the stage?
Another example could be the comparison between looking at a
pixellated JPG image of a painting on the internet, and looking at the real
thing in the flesh. Is this where our culture is heading? To a place where
everything is viewed through a screen, where technology determines our every
encounter?
One benefit of buying a book in a book shop is that you know
exactly what you’re getting for your money. You don’t have to compare ‘user
reviews’, check ratings or compare prices with any other sites. You can aquire
the book then and there, you don’t have to wait between 4-12 working days for
delivery or pay the fees for this. You know exactly where your money is going
and for what. When browsing online one can commonly end up spending more money
than is necessary, with the thousands of offers, suggestions and adverts we are
bombarded with constantly online. When shopping in a store, you are simply
surrounded by more physical books, you may browse at your own pace, judge
quality for money yourself and communicate with real people.
Many may argue that one of the main reasons they buy books
online is convenience – i’d argue that this is more to do with laziness. ( Or
perhaps a lack of appreciation for the book as an object.) For what effort is
really being saved? We hide behind the word ‘convenience’ and also behind our high-technological
society, with the idea that time and unnecessary effort is being saved, when
actually we are just taking the ‘easy route out’.
“I took my time, running my
fingers along the spines of books, stopping to pull a title from the shelf and
inspect it. A sense of well-being flowed through me as I circled the ground
floor. It was better then meditation or a new pair of shoes- or even chocolate.
My life was a disaster, but there were still books. Lots and lots of books. A
refuge. A solace. Each one offering the possibility of a new beginning.” – Beth Pattillo, Jane Austen Ruined My
Life.
Some people may be content living life through a flat screen, clicking,
scrolling and pressing buttons, but I choose to treat my senses, browsing in
book shops, exploring beautiful objects, appreciating human contact and experiencing
as much as possible.
