That Kindle-icious Smell

Booksquare amusingly relates an over-the-top idea:

If there is one thing we can agree on, in the discussion surrounding digital books, it is that the issue is not “if ebooks ever take off” but “how ebooks will assimilate”. To my mind, too much energy is wasted on the idea that digital books are not the same as physical books. Focusing on the tactile, the kinesthetic, the heft of books and comparing that experience to a digital book makes no sense.

Of course they’re different, just like cars, boats, and airplanes are different. Trains are different. All are forms of transportation, all have their strengths and weaknesses. We choose one type of transport over the other for a host of reasons: speed, convenience, experience. Why not so with books?

So when I see a product positioning itself to recreate the “smell of books” on your ereader, I just want to scream. Stop. The. Madness. Now.

Criminy next thing you know they'll be selling "new car smell" and no one will ever buy a new car again and the automobile manufacturers will all go bankrupt.

Meanwhile Jeff Bezos explains that the smell of books is satisfying simply due to association, which makes sense. The law of association is such that I try not to mess with it too much.