What Lasts?

I have often pondered this question. Besides our own memories, what really lasts? Even those fade with time. I like to think that books are the longest lasting form of media. VHS tapes are moot. Soon DVDs will fade into nothingness. CDs are being replaced with iPods while CDs replaced cassette tapes.

Ok, true, books are being replaced with things like the Kindle. Everything is going electronic. But is that all just a phase too? I look at the books I have and I can't imagine anything in place of them. The Kindle or something like it is cold, hard, impersonal. A book you can take with you and smell the pages as you open it. You can write in it, fold over pages noting your favorite passages. Look at the oldest books. They are still in print. They are still out there with more and more copies of them being made. Books have been around for hundreds of years.

But a book can disappear just as easily as the Internet can. Books can be burned (and unfortunately, people do burn them). They can retain water damage. They can be torn apart, be made illegible.

So, what lasts? In my heart, I still want it to be books even though I think they are fading. Maybe that's why I want to be an editor, so I can keep them from disappearing.