The Stick-Shift Book

       My youngest son and I share a passion. We both celebrate cars that are fun to drive. More specifically, we both have more-or-less tried to draw a line in the sand, and only purchase personal cars that have traditional manual transmissions with clutches. I’ve managed to make that stick (oops, sorry ‘bout the double entendre!) over a 45 year driving history, but since my purchasing power has varied wildly over my adult life, it’s contributed to the selection of some pretty odd beasts, including two Fiats, two Renaults, two VWs (the old style ones), not to mention assorted American and Japanese “econo-boxes.” Part of my spin on all this, of course, was the knowledge that standard transmissions were more efficient in mileage and repairs.

My Triumph TR3 did NOT look like this one!

       Interspersed amongst all those purchases were a handful of true sports cars – two-seaters with rag tops. But, again, since I have never had the resources allowing me to have car “toys,” all but one (a 1957 Triumph TR3 of dubious quality) had to provide daily transportation as well. As a result, I’ve always owned vehicles which were neither current (I could never afford a new car), nor vintage. They’re just fun to drive.
       I’m now old enough that it’s probably possible for me to map out my vehicular purchases from here on out. My affection for operating a clutch and throwing a gearshift lever is probably going to be a casualty, since, in fact, the technology of power transmission from engine to wheels has changed radically over the years. Most new sporty cars these days have paddle-shifters, which provide for the manual control of an otherwise automatic transmission. And efficiency has been pretty much taken off the table as well. To hang onto a clutch/gearbox car, I’d probably have to go truly vintage, and, frankly, I have no interest in spending more money for less car, so that’s not a viable option either.
       But this essay is not about that. (You knew that was coming, right? ;-) )

     A few days ago, this L.A. Times article about a San Antonio public library system that had gone all virtual – no paper books at all, only e-reader loaners and e-books available digitally, with a card catalog delivered by touch screen – was posted in Facebook by a techie contact of mine. The reaction, predictably, was “Oh, no! That’s terrible!” And, of course, in my vigilant attempts to perturb the comfort zone of all educators everywhere (!), I nudged the discussion a bit with “perhaps we do ourselves and our interests a disservice by focusing on delivery technology – isn’t this about reading?” Immediately, several folks got on their soap boxes about the wonderful characteristics of paper books, and how terrible it would be to do without them. I was immediately reminded of manual transmissions…
       This is not to say (I assured the thread participants) that I dislike paper books. I actually prefer them, from a tactile and eye-fatigue perspective. Of course, I also truly love the e-book’s ability to instantly define words, allow for non-destructive mark-ups and dog-ears, simultaneous reading (my wife and I share e-books), and instant sharing of quotes and passages. So I’m fully aware of the trade-offs, good and bad, in comparing the technologies associated with delivering reading matter. But such discussions are almost moot. For better or worse, if we were to hand the responsibility of designing a library to a 20-year-old student, chances are it wouldn’t have any paper books in it. (I’m guessing a young person designed the San Antonio library, though the article doesn’t say.)
       Is this tragic? Probably not. Is it ill-advised? Probably so. Is it inevitable? I’d say so, but history will tell, and I know that that won’t be up to me. But in chasing this debate, we’re missing the true issue. What we want our students to do is READ! And we want them to read more than just articles, blogs, social media, emails, and texts – we want them to read long-form content: novels, historical books, books on thinking and philosophy, etc. If a student is already doing virtually all reading on a personal device of some sort, a focus on the paper vs. e-book issue will cause them to check out of the debate, and the more important battle will be lost.
       Yes, there are lots of paper book aficionados out there, even amongst young people. We most certainly need to continue to serve them. But as their numbers shrink (and they will), we need to make sure that we don’t distract ourselves from the true issue – the wealth of reading materials out there which demand book-length treatment, nuance, and reader attention.
       My next car will be an automatic. I’ll have a brief moment of silence as I sign the papers, but then, I’ll get on with my life knowing that driving can still be fun.