Print is Dead: Books in Our Digital Age

Cory Doctorow at Boing Boing wrote last week about another instance of someone using books in an, uh, interesting way. This time books are being used to create what Doctorow calls a “marvelous” chair (pictured above). And while I’ve written about a number of design uses involving books or bookcases in the past (including sticking books inside staircases and ceilings, in addition to having them be part of a chair), this chair made out of books is surely one of the stranger (not to mention least respectful) uses of books I’ve seen so far. I mean, do we now care so little for books that we’re going to just sit on top of them? Why not just put a layer of them on the floor and walk all over them? I bet a bunch of mass market paperbacks would feel kind of springy under the feet.

Of course, what’s manifestly different with this latest example of creative book repurposing is that, whereas before books were being stored in decorative ways for potential re-reading later on, this chair is expressly made from “discarded paperbacks.” It reminds me of a scene in the Rodney Dangerfield classic Back to School, when his Melon clothing company tries to come up with a cuddly doll to rival the then popular Cabbage Patch Kids. Their answer? Melon Patch Kids. A company executive describes the new product during a meeting: “Now, the competition exploits the notion that their dolls are orphans. The Melon Patch Kids are not orphans; they’re abandoned!” Because if we’re now starting to use books as chair cushions, it’s just a matter of time before they’re “recycled” as firewood.