Article: Kindling our debts to the digital elite

THE WEEK IN BOOKS

Remember videos? Chunkily packaged to look like books, these plastic cases filled with tape first gave us the idea that films and TV shows could be acquired for enjoyment at will. Often, especially with children's favourites, the ad campaigns would draw on phrases such as "Yours to keep for ever". At the time, that sounded awesome. Yes, you really could buy and store audio-visual entertainment, just as with a book.

Videos went the way of all perishable kit, but time and technology have blown in a very strange reversal. Now, millions of PR dollars try to persuade us to forsake print-on-paper books. Instead, those nice guys at Amazon and Google will let us browse or withdraw ...

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