Valuing the virtual vs the physical

While reading this article on the SMH on Amazon’s Kindle ebook device, the following quote caught my eye:

“It’s, I guess, the feel of holding a book that someone really put a lot of effort into writing, and you kind of lose that a little bit with a digital product,” said Katy Farina, 21, of Montgomery, New Jersey.

The underlying assumption seems to be that the physical nature of a book makes it easier to appreciate the amount of work involved in its creation. And that the same amount of material written for a virtual medium somehow must require less effort. Thus the virtual is less perceived to be less valuable than the physical.

This is particularly disturbing given her age. Is is the same mentality that makes it OK for millions of people to steal non-physical property?

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