Lamenting Lost Browsing

I miss being able to browse.  Let me explain.

I was watching the movie Before Sunset over the weekend.  The movie is the second in a trilogy starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy.  Toward the end of the movie, Jesse (Hawke) walks into Celine’s (Delpy) apartment in Paris and begins wandering around.  He looks at the art on her wall, the books on her bookshelf, and then the rack of CDs sitting beside her CD player. He finds one he likes, which happens to be a Nina Simone CD, and pops it in the player and hits play.  The entire mood of the scene changes as both characters are swept up in the music and the urgency of the moment.

It reminded me that we rarely get this privilege anymore.  I used to love walking into someone’s house and digging through their CD collection, or looking through the books on their bookshelf.  You could tell a lot about a person by the music they listened to or the books they chose to display.  It also provided the opportunity to say “Can I borrow this?”  I did that a lot.  I think this is why companies like Vinyl Me, Please are doing so well right now.  There’s something about putting your hands on art that cannot be reproduced.

I love the accessibility of modern media.  I like being able to listen to anything I want to at any time or have a book to read in less than 30 seconds.  I’m not saying we should go back to the way it was.  I’m saying there is an opportunity here to provide the ability to let me browse around your house like I used to and see what you’re into.  And not in some playlist or boring list.  A rich way to display / share this kind of thing that captures the best of both physical and digital and gives me that moment to say “Can I borrow this?”

What do you think?