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 p.1 #2 · Camera brochures - do you miss em’? | |
I am 35, so I was coming of age when the transition from physical media to digital began in earnest. Because I was a kid, I never had to deal with any of the downsides of physical ownership, since none of it ever seemed to be the useless detritus it probably appeared to be to my parents. I was 14, it wasn't "my" house, so I wasn't aware of "random stuff" being everywhere. I think because of this, I have an incredible nostalgia for the physical things of yesteryear, e.g., camera manuals, video game/movie inserts, posters, magazines, etc.
Would I want any of that stuff lying around now, were it available and ubiquitous? Yes and no, although the older I get, the less I want. That said, I think the fact that you *can't* get them at all, that they literally are no longer made, belies more troubling trends. A 500 page manual was nice in part because someone who was an expert sat down and wrote it out, and then the company saw fit to bind it, however cheaply, into a book, and you could go back to that book 1,000 times a year at no cost whenever you wanted, or hand it off to someone else when you no longer required it. It demonstrated a level of care and consideration that I think has deteriorated writ large over time. It's not like we stopped getting physical manuals and everything else stayed the same; in my opinion, the attitude that said "physical manuals are no longer important" is the same one that today considers craftsmanship and design elegance less important by the year.
Moreover, when I was a kid, physical manuals, inserts, magazines, etc. all contributed enormously to both my literacy and my interest in reading. Because I *could* grab something like an instruction manual, I often did. I don't think any right thinking person in 2026 would argue that literacy in America is on the climb, and while the loss of everyday physical books/manuals/newspapers/magazines is not the primary driving force behind that decline, I don't think I can be convinced it hasn't played at least some part.
So, I dunno. I don't think I'd want them cluttering up my drawers, but I do wish they still existed, and I'd be willing to buy a larger filing cabinet if we could all collectively have them back.
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