Playing Nooky

When I was a kid, my parents bought everything in pairs: one for me, and one for my sister. When my mother learned that Beanie Babies were going to be worth tons of money when we grew up, my mother returned to McDonald's again and again until she had two complete sets of Happy Meal Beanie Babies.

And when Disney opened The Vault and proclaimed that Sleeping Beauty would be released on VHS for a limited time only, Mom and Dad bought two. Fantasia, they bought two. Two Snow Whites. Two Cinderellas. Two sets of the music-playing Cinderella Christmas tree ornaments from McDonald's to go with the two Cinderella VHS's.

The thought was that if my parents bought two when they had the chance, then my sister and I could each have one for our children to enjoy. But here we are, both grown, still neither of us have children. And the VHS tapes have been rendered technologically obsolete twice since. Netflix will send Fantasia to you in the mail in a sleek red envelope. Or, you can just download it on iTunes. It's only a matter of time before we can stream Disney magic into our homes on the invisible threads of our interwebs! Want to know the reason you can't already? Because that would destroy the illusion of The Vault.

Now when Disney opens The Vault, Blu-ray disks issue forth. The advertisements for the rerelease of Beauty and the Beast urged, "limited time only! Get yours now before the Disney vault closes forever!"

"Liars!" I screeched at the television. "You can't fool me, you Disney bastards! You just want my money!" I felt it necessary to scream the truth of this for two reasons. 1. I was absolutely correct. 2. If I was a Disney Princess, I would be Maleficent, and screaming evilly at every opportunity is de rigueur for people like me.

Anyway, my point is that people who were buying the first generation of home video in the late eighties weren't used to the idea of obsolescence. My parents had no way of knowing that VHS would give way to DVD. Suffice it to say, however, that they don't buy two copies of each DVD every time Disney opens The Vault. In fact, I don't think they buy any. Once bitten, and once bought. Well, twice bought, I guess, but only one one platform.

So it is with great worry that I admit to a shocking truth. I have purchased a Nook. That's right! An e-reader! For the first time in my life, I am reading the next generation of book technology. This is terribly frightening! (And exhilarating. It's so tiny!) If I buy this e-reader, and I buy these e-books, will print books become as obsolete as my Disney VHS tapes? Am I turning my back on a technology that has lasted literally thousands of years and entertained, enlightened, or educated millions upon millions of people? (Did I mention that I bought a cute little case for it?) Do I dare to do this?

I remember the first word I ever read without the supervision of a teacher or a parent. The word was "deep," and it was the first word of a Bambi picture book. (The story continued, "in the forest," in case you're curious.) I might have been five. I still had all my baby teeth. This might be one of my earliest memories. And to some degree, the moment defined me. With that one word, I became a reader. I have been a reader ever since.

So am I different now because I am an e-reader? Is this a new moment for me now? I'm not sure how I am supposed to feel about myself and my relation to this little gadget.

Maybe it changes nothing. VHS tapes and DVD's are only viewable if you have the machine that reads them. But I'm the machine that reads the book. So how can the book ever be obsolete?

I will have to keep thinking about this, and keep you updated. Because I like to think about it. (And I like to read my Nook. The e-books download in seconds.)

Also, in case you're wondering, both sets of McDonald's Beanie Babies recently went to Goodwill. It turns out that they weren't that valuable after all. Figures.