F.virtual uturo? In science fiction films, houses are empty. A button colors the walls as desired, the paintings are video projections. The walk-in closet is tiny: the very elegant avatars live in the Metaverse. We thought we were going towards “that” future, even if, as the film teaches Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnessthere are many possible, but maybe it won’t be ours. Nicholas Negroponte in Being digital (1995) prophesied total dematerialization. The Americans were the first to turn records into audio files, textbooks into liquid pills on digital media with less waste of paper and space, but then they thought better of it. And the “physical” publishing has restarted very well.
Bookstores don’t miss out
With us, last year, sales of paper books increased by 16 percentreports the president of the Italian Publishers Association (AIE) Ricardo Franco Levi: “We are second in Europe, ahead of Germany and the United Kingdom”. In 2021, 115.6 million copies were purchased (18 million more than in 2020) and 85,551 novelties were printed (+22.9 percent) while e-books drop to 49,313 (-5.6) and, despite everything, the first purchasing channel remains physical stores. Maybe Umberto Eco was right: “The book is like the spoon, the hammer, the wheel, the scissors: once you’ve invented them, you can’t do better”. And neuroscience research shows that you learn more by studying on pages that you can touch, crumple, underline, flip through, and why not, tear off.
It is not nostalgia, but a new need
An isolated case, that of books? For nothing. The cd has returned to generate revenues (+10.6 percent). Vinyl, after surpassing CDs in early 2021, confirmed the 79 percent exploit (data from Deloitte / International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, March 2022). Many digital natives who have never seen a 33 rpm in their home consider vinyl a “necessary” object that testifies to closeness to the artist. A bit like autographs. The business of cassette tapes is also growing (+245 percent) considered a nostalgic relic of the 60s and 70s. But nostalgia has nothing to do with it. Dirt Tapes, for example, it is a label that produces cassette tapes. Drummer Karim Qqru explains: «Today everything is available in one click, but in a form that sometimes loses emotional consistency. Ours is not a fight against digital: we listen to Spotify every day, but the idea that everything is contained in there, in a file, something incorporeal, does not give us what we want. I believe this is a widespread sentimentor”. Widespread. It takes physical! True.
Science proves it: handwriting is good
“Smed”, or “Writing by hand in the digital age”, is an association, a movement, a wave that grows from year to year. The volcanic president, Daniela Moretto, with her husband Massimo Gonzato has chosen a mission: convert as many people as possible to handwriting because «when you discover it it becomes a need, like walking and cycling. It gives you a level of concentration similar to that of yoga, it puts you in relationship with yourself. I have worked in digital for 35 years and I can testify to the difference. People are beginning to understand this. In Milan we went to “Do the right thing” for three days with a writing workshop. School groups, children, teachers, parents with children, were all enthusiastic ».
There is also the endorsement of scientists. Virginia Berninger (University of Washington) has shown that handwriting, that is, handwriting, stimulates the brain in multiple areas, improves concentration and promotes the ability to synthesize. In the study published in Psychological Science, the researchers monitored two groups of students: the first taking notes in notebooks and notebooks, the second on the computer. And the writing has won over. That may be why millennial Zayn Malik, formerly of One Direction, uses notebooks to sketch his songs. A beautiful explanation was given by Joyce Carol Oates, the memorable author of Blonde: «Writing is the consequence of thinking, planning and dreaming. This is the process in which the writing is translated, while the other (the keyboard) is just a way to record it ». Maybe we should all have a notebook in our pocket at all times. Voice memos are not the same.
Fabriano has recently launched, with great success, EcoQuaan irresistible collection of colored notebooks and notebooks (ivory shades are relaxing, yellow is trendy) with a green soul, without pvc and plastic in the covers, recyclable. In their boutiques the calligraphy courses attended by the most diverse age groups start again: on average between 35 and 50 years, but there are also very young people between 15 and 20. Female majority, different motivations: learning cursive, helping students to recover legible handwriting or, more practically, writing elegant invitations by themselves. wedding. A large crowd is expected in Milan, next September Drawing Festival (pre-Covid, 15 thousand participated, from five to 70 years old).
Photo albums are rediscovered
Another exploit? Albums, which free important photos from the overcrowded memory of mobile phones. Cheerz (and it is not the only one) offers customizable binders and prints “your best memories”, because, the site assures, “those few centimeters of paper are a gold mine of memories”. Once the account is created, you are guided to fill in the album: simple. With what we could define as a counter-digitization, Cheerz had a turnover of more than three million euros in 2021.
And back to shooting with cameras. This is told by Leica, which celebrates a story of ingenious inventions with the new M11 model: «The non-professionals who previously only used the telephone have reconnected. Now they are looking for more quality and a preventive selection of the images »they say. The photos piled up in digital memories (and you never find the one you are looking for), the surreal conversations with virtual assistants (I recommend those of the banks!), the stupidity (sometimes) of the artificial intelligences that process the phone calls have produced affectionate re-evaluations, like craving for a human switchboard operator. Of course, there is no going back. Says Chris Anderson, essayist considered by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world: “We are moving towards hybrid forms: physical books ordered online, digital photos printed and collected in albums, turntables next to audio files, everyday objects drawn on the computer and then 3D printed. Everyone will be able to produce plates, glasses, cutlery and eventually even the steak. Dematerializing is fine, but not too much. The physique gives more satisfaction ».
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