as if it mattered

The physical form of the book, the presentation of the hypertext on the screen, both alike are bones and dust.

Books matter because people matter. The physical manifestations are ephemeral, the merest shell, animated for a time.

Books matter, because ideas matter. To reduce our love of books to nostalgia for an imagined past of leather bindings and fine paper debases and endangers us.

We need to treat writing as if it mattered -- not merely to individuals who cherish Dickens or Coover or tenure, but to us all.