The changing purpose of books

These days you'll struggle to give away a collection.

Through no fault of their own, books have completely changed their purpose.

Not long ago, a book was the only credible container of information and knowledge.

They were housed in libraries - access to them was only granted if you had the right keycard; fines were issued if you failed to return them before a stipulated deadline because 'you were taking away somebody else's opportunity to learn'.

Books didn't change - the world around them did. There are no more limits to knowledge, there isn't a limited supply of it anymore; the price of it has dropped to zero.

Now a book is a hassle, a thing to get rid of when you move house, a backdrop you use on your Zoom calls to demonstrate that you're smart...and have been for some time, because you acquired all of these old books long before they were reclassified as decor.

Books now best function as a reminder - a reminder that without constant evolution and progress forward, anything and anyone that was once considered valuable and limited in supply, can become irrelevant as the world around them changes.

It wasn't the books' fault - they didn't do anything wrong, but as knowledgeable as they are, books just aren't that adaptable to their changing surroundings.