Boxes
In New York City, the birthplace of peace and quiet, the phrase close quarters takes on new meaning. To really connect with the greatest city on the planet, you have to descend to the clattering, hygienic depths of the New York City subway system, and there, amid the primal funk, standing in the doorway of a No.2 train hurtling beneath Manhattan, I recently realized that my fellow travelers were all connected to their device of choice via telltale headphone lines. While digital downloads, most unfortunately of the lo-rez variety, have changed the world of music forever, another, earlier world refuses to go quietly into any good night. There, across the subway car, wrestling with an uncooperative dust jacket, stood a man reading an actual paper-and-glue book. Physical media—eg, books,…