Why do I love an honest-to-goodness real book with paper pages that are numbered sequentially and can be flipped rapidly and dog-eared and marked upon and that I may have to wear glasses to read?

And why will I never have a digital device upon which to read a book that I can change the font size because I’m too vain to wear said glasses?

Well, let’s review our history of the written word. First, there was no written word. Then there was. Immediately everybody realized rocks were just too hard to carry around and they got to looking around for another methodology. So rocks out; papyrus in, and it lasted for several thousand years.

But, even papyrus was a booger to deal with. You see, it was in scrolls. Long pieces of papyrus, rolled up, and tied with strips of leather and piled up with no way of telling what was inside any one of them. And when it was unrolled, there was no division of information, so people had to hope they remembered where the information was on that…oh, the aggravation and grief was palpable. No wonder kings needed a full-time priesthood to manage their little libraries.

So you see, scrolling is not a new concept in reading. It didn’t work then very well on papyrus; and it doesn’t work now very well for long subject matter on screen. So, somebody (it has been rumored the early Christians) came up with a way of putting leaves of papyrus together in a bound form (what we for hundreds of years have called a book). Next was introduced the concept of organization of the bound matter, i.e., index, chapters, page numbers, etc.

Duplication methods (mechanical printing of all sorts), hot lead type, movable type, and now electronic phototypesetting, have made the process of designing and manufacturing a book even easier, though the writing is still difficult.

So, out with scrolling for anything over 2500 words, and in with bound, printed matter and flipping pages for anything over 2500 words.

Yes, I love a book with its title on the front and spine. I love numbered pages. I love being able to use a pen or pencil and underline a line that caught my eye. I love turning down a page to mark my spot and — bam, bam — picking the book back up and in 2 seconds flipping right to where I left off. I like the feel of the weight of the book and the tactile nature of the paper. I like the design of the words on a page. This perfect methodology is a whole body experience involving the senses of touch, sight, smell, and hearing.

I shall not deprive myself of that.