It Would Take an Action Hero to Save Music
When I was growing up, an afternoon at the library, browsing through a seemingly infinite number of books, was a common Sunday activity. Mostly, the library was a quiet, air-conditioned sanctuary where everyone had equal access to as many books as they could poke a library card at. St. Kilda Public Library, Melbourne, Australia (Click to enlarge) Considering the number of librarians employed at the local library, it doesn't take much to realize that to own all those books would be an expensive undertaking and an organizational nightmare. My father once built a huge floor-to-ceiling bookshelf and my mother cataloged all of our books, Dewey Decimal System -style. Alas, with the rest of us kids running (around) the house, maintaining this private library was nigh on impossible. But it was a valiant attempt. Today, e-books are cheap and sometimes even free . One hand-held device can contain thousands of books, easily sorted according to title, author, genre, subject, date or...
