Quote:
Originally Posted by taming
You missed the part 2--the one about only having books I intend to actually read and my inability to read 27,000 books even if they were to look good to me.
I have never understood the need/desire to stuff a reader with books just because they are free. It seems to me like going to an all you can eat buffet and trying to pile my place at the table with everything they have regardless of whether I actually care to eat 150 buns or just one.
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I can kind of understand it, since I was doing it for a little while. There's a definite shift in thinking that comes with a resource that is post-scarcity, and it takes people a while to adjust.
The natural reaction is to grab everything ASAP in case it goes away. And the changeable nature of the net reinforces that to a certain extent. But eventually people come to understand that they really don't need to worry about it - there's always another book, or a torrent, or some way to get what they want. There's an abundance and they don't need to fret about it. People can just get what they want right away and not have to worry about stockpiling for the future.
It's an interesting shift because it mimics so many of the changes in inventory management and storage that are going on in the business world. Makes me wonder what's going to happen when manufacturing gets decentralized (3D printing, etc). What will people do all day to keep themselves busy and contributing to society?