eBooks with that "old book" smell

During the TOC Conference in June, keynoter Manolis Kelaidis talked about how much he loved the feel and smell of books, even those on his shelf that he’s never read. A compelling case for the codex form factor.

Now comes word that CafeScribe.com will be sending eBook buyers a scratch-and-sniff sticker to bring the musty smell of “old books” to digital reading. Says CafeScribe CEO Bryce Johnson:

By placing these stickers on their computers they can give their e-books the same musty book smell they know and love from used textbooks — without any of the residual DNA you often find stuck to the pages of used textbooks.

Likely just a clever gimmick (see Smell-o-Vision),though the underlying survey findings are worth noting:

A survey of 600 college students conducted by pollster Zogby International found that 43 per cent of students identified smell, either a new or old smell, as the quality they most liked about books as physical objects.

(Then again, a more cynical interpretation leaves one slightly distressed that before the quality of the contents, college students place the highest value on a book’s smell.)

What smell would you package with your favorite book?

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