Books are dead

For me. Or to me. Books are dead to me.

And it wasn’t some damn e-book reader that killed them either. ‘Twas RSS, a truly persistent technology, in conjunction with podcasts and with Twitter as an accomplice.

The real deal: reading a book 1) requires consecutive hours to sit down to get through; or 2) is a series of slightly disjointed or stilted experiences if consumed in bits. But, most importantly, a book is only one book, and it’s probably just one topic. One main idea. One experience.

Whereas, a properly tuned RSS reader allows one to freebase knowledge. Twitter allows something almost as good, but here it’s less knowledge and more witty non sequiturs. And podcasts essentially bridge the gap between news and entertainment, but in a individually wrapped and easy to consume audio format. They’re all amazing highs.

At present, I subscribe to 29 feeds and over the past 30 days have read 3,427 different items. Design. Beer news. Gadgets. Green tech. News and politics. Comics. And people I know. My RSS has got it all. It’s the same situation for Twitter, but instead I’m able to track the constant stream of conscious of 116 very different people. And in the podcast realm I’ve currently got 14 different subscriptions with over 1.3 days worth of audio.

When it comes down to it, I read to learn and to be stimulated. Why spend time reading a book if, with the help of technology, I can enjoy a constant information high like this? RSS and the like may not be the 5 star meal that a good book is, but damn if they don’t provide that all you can eat buffet that we Americans so love.

Let me hear all the complaining in the comments.

Today I am driving to Monterey with my mother

But I am currently making her wait so that I can use the Internet in my favorite coffee joint to:

1. catch up on my favorite blogs (Gizmodo, Lifehacker, kung fu grippe, and so on in this manner),
2. get the latest podcasts for each of my subscriptions, and
3. write this post mocking her.