In a way I feel the more approachable something becomes, the less value will be derived from it by those who "consume" it. It's dreadful browsing a book store

In a way I feel the more approachable something becomes, the less value will be derived from it by those who "consume" it. It's dreadful browsing a book store and wondering how many of those books are a waste of paper, worse still a waste of time. There's more to be said about the "aesthetic" of books, both from the author's and reader's sides. And today it seems that a book's content isn't the only thing that matters; Or for some authors (particularly in tech) book sales aren't the main goal, neither something more altruistic. For them a book is validating their "authority" in the field, a strategic move. I'm sure someone would make the case for subjective and objective values of a book, and they'd be right in an universal sort of way. What I yearn for is a way of knowing which books are valuable to me in a practically endless supply. Therein lies the rub because a book is a bigger time sink than a song, movie, or video.