Paper is Back.

I admit I am a bit of a Luddite. My mobile phone is prehistoric by today's standards at around eight years old. I don't own an iPod, iPad or iblinkinganything, and most of all, I don't own a Kindle or any other type of digitalised book reading device. Devices of the Devil all.

I confess a few years ago I was half expecting I'd have to bite the bullet and get Kindled, Nooked or Kobo'd up as the imminent demise of the hard copy book was forecast. The printed tome wouldn't completely disappear apparently though, a few select titles would probably still be available at huge expense for those traditionalists who prefer a proper book, the doom mongering gleeful geeks patronisingly explained. Oh goody.

Not ready to join the VHS Video recorder and audio cassette in the museums just yet...

Thankfully, the predictions have so far appeared to be a bit wide of the mark. Printed book sales are well down on say, ten years ago, but it would appear they have bottomed out and are now starting to pick up again, while sales of e-readers are slowing. Waterstones claim printed sales were up 5% in December 2014 compared to the same month in 2013, while Foyles reported an 8% rise for the same period. A book is clearly a better Christmas present than a digital download voucher, but it's not just at Christmas that the sales shows an increase, the general year round trend is up, albeit slowly.

Of course, it was not just printed books that were set for extinction of course, magazines in glossy paper form would disappear too in favour of pixels on tablets and PCs, or so went the prophesies of doom. Sure enough, it appears sales have been hit very hard indeed, and some titles have been lost altogether, but all is not lost yet, and in fact, things are actually getting better in some ways thanks to the computer age. 

Modern digital processes make producing niche magazines with lower circulation a viable proposition, and rather than titles disappearing completely, we are actually seeing new ones appear.

Cyclist Magazine has only been around since late 2012, Bikes Etc about a year (at a guess), and now the second issue of mountain bike magazine Cranked has just thumped onto my doormat.

This is all very good news for me as I have a definite magazine and book buying habit. I do read a couple of pixelated periodicals – Bicycle Traveler and Bunyan Velo, but good though they are, reading on a computer is just not the same experience at all.

The printed book or magazine is something to savour, something to set time aside for and to immerse yourself in with a good cup of coffee and a warm duvet. 

There is a distinct pleasure in browsing the book shelves and coming away with a purchase, looking forward to getting home and settling down with it for some relaxing stimulation. You have something solid in return for your money, something that smells and feels like a book should, and the same goes for magazines, especially so at the quality end of the magazine shelf. Cranked costs a chunky tenner, Rouleur likewise, while Singletrack comes in at six quid. But you pay for quality, both in the content and in the production. They are not buy, read and bin magazines, they are more like soft backed books, and a pleasure to own and read.

It's not just books and magazines that are staging a recovery though, vinyl record sales are positively exploding – vinyl album sales apparently up a hooting great 69% for the first quarter of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014 (Source). It seems more and more people find the modern digitised products lack a certain something - the quality and pleasure of ownership I'd suggest.

So the second issue of Cranked has landed, but rather than wade straight in, I've taken it upstairs - a treat to savour when I go to bed tonight, and yes, I will be sniffing the paper...