Digital weight
There's something about downloading books from the internet not being instantaneous that makes me feel something1.
Downloading music, videos, video games and other media doesn't have the same feel to it, I just want it done as soon as possible. Especially when it comes to video games, I even feel a slight disdain given that I definitely won't be using the high resolution textures on my machine, but I still have to download sometimes even upwards of 70 gigabytes of "content"2.
But books, on the other hand? That feels... different. Downloading an EPUB for half an hour somehow makes it have some impalpable weight, as if I'm reaching for some forbidden knowledge that needs a while to distill. Just a handful of megabytes, yet holding so much information3. The fact that I have to go to wikipedia to check the currently active URLs for the library definitely adds an ominous tone to it.
Maybe it's because I have time to reflect upon the effort the author has put into making it? They've probably worked hard to compress their knowledge and bind it (albeit figuratively) into a book, so I'll respond by diligently studying the material and trying to expand upon it, making the book to be some sort of a conduit between a master and a pupil.
Or maybe because I'm reminded of the times before having access to everything everywhere, all at once? The book I chose to download is obviously important enough to me that I'm willing to wait for a little while. As if I'm waiting in line for something to whisk me away to a new, calmer world, one that isn't tainted by whatever is going on in the outside world.
I can't really put my finger on it, but it definitely makes me feel something.
Yes, the URL purposefully does not match the title of the post. And no, this isn't a real footnote.
It's because it's from shady websites, of course.↩
Topic for another time, but I remember being taken aback by GTA IV requiring a whopping 15 (fifteen!) gigabytes. Nobody would bat an eye about it nowadays, though.↩
The level of compression of books is something to be in awe of. Sure, it's lossy, but one can gain so much more than just what is written.↩