Quote:
Originally Posted by Fat Abe
Second, any novel printed on acid-free paper and bound correctly can survive for centuries.
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I've moved a lot in the past, (military family) and there's one thing I learned, is that books don't travel well. Nor do they survive floods, fires, or drastic weight restrictions on moves.
Moving to Japan, I had to give most of my books away, because we had kids and weight restrictions on packed items going overseas. The ONE box I had of a dozen books, that made it to our house in Japan nine months later was the ONLY box that had gotten wet and molded.
I've also helped pack up my grandparents to move to smaller and smaller places. Fewer and fewer books they'd saved for years, a lot never read, didn't make the cut. Some willingly tossed out or given away because they just couldn't read the small print anymore.
While I know nothing is forever, and both physical and ebook have storage issues, I have kept about 200 of my paperbacks and have gone to ebooks years and years ago. I love being able to adjust the fonts and stuff, and now adore night mode.
And my kids have given me their word that when I get to that future nursing home, they'll gladly maintain my library on what ever current device I can have with me. If they can load it up, and prop it up in front of me, and keep my eyeglass perscription up-to-date, I'll be as happy a camper as I can be in that situation. Because I know all the physical books will be gone some day. One way or the other.