[Sydney's Mom]

I thought I fully embraced the digital revolution, at least when it came to ebooks. However, I read the article about the free kindle, and came across this quote:

As a matter of fact, I'm writing this article sitting in the former card catalog room of Doheny Library on the campus of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. It's a gorgeous space, all four walls lined with built-in wooden card catalog drawers, stacked six feet high. Every one of those drawers is empty.

I think this is sad. I sat in the stacks of the Harvard Law School Library to write my third year paper, and it was very dusty, and full of books. There were books piled up everywhere. That is a wonderful memory, and the current students writing their papers in their dorm rooms on theirs Macs isn't quite the same. But I guess there are other memories people can retain from their school days - the thrill of hacking a reference volume?

Even though I was completely alone in my carrell, this digital revolution is making us more isolated, and more intolerant. Today, knowing I could work remotely on my computer, I would not subject myself to those dark, dusty stacks. I never go to the bookstore anymore, and I usually check out books at 3 am. When I ride the train, half the train is playing Angry Birds on their phones (I just finished the St. Patricks Day level!), and the rest are reading books or newspapers or sleeping. 10 years ago, when I first started riding the train, I made "train friends", and we got together outside the train. Now, Metra is bringing us "quiet cars." You cannot talk on your cellphone (yay!) or carry on conversations with your fellow passengers. That is great for me, as sometimes those conversations detract from my book, but what does that mean for us as a society? I bet those quiet cards will be packed!