Real books are not ugly. But they are more than text on a dead tree. Books age; books gather a patina of use. As the glue and the paper and the binding and the

Real books are not ugly. But they are more than text on a dead tree. Books age; books gather a patina of use. As the glue and the paper and the binding and the spine age together, the smell of them changes. Real, physical, well-made books are pieces of art onto themselves -- something we've lost in reading these things on a flat, lifeless screen. Digital books can be more than simply text on a screen as well; I noticed in a recent Amazon title that passages which were frequently highlighted by other users were set differently (I think it was a highlight as well; I can't remember the title I saw it in). Never mind the privacy concerns; it's the morphing of a medium. On the other hand, applying the skeuomorphs of such a thing cheapens it. It's a mask, trying to hide its nature. For me, it's almost an uncanny valley feel. And I think the best design is that which unleashes full intuitiveness: if I had never seen a book, why would I expect this animation to be there when reading an e-book? It's superfluous to the nature of the media. Even the page turning itself is superfluous to the media. Its purpose is to add pauses to the interaction. You lose part of that experience when there is no longer a physical page.