iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 13/07/2026

"I often wonder what the Vintners buy/One half so precious as the Goods they sell" -Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám I first encountered that quote from someone extolling bookstores, and it stuck. For most of my childhood, every bookstore visit ended with me broke and wishing I'd had more to spend. 1/

Three gold rush miners standing around a mule wagon piled high with mining supplies. They are surmounted by a Gold Rush-era advertisement reading 'GOLD MINING will be the leading business in the Northwest this year/EVERY MERCHANT can be prepared to supply his customers and keep his Profits and Money at home by inspecting/OUR LINE. It is complete. Send for our prices. Prompt shipments made.' The three miners' heads have been replaced with the heads of robots ganked from old pulp sf magazines. In the background a young man is performing a joyous headstand. The image has been sepia-toned.

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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 13/07/2026

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog: pluralistic.net/2026/07/13/g... 2/

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Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow – No trackers, no ads. Black type, white background. Privacy policy: we don't collect or retain any data at all ever period.

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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 13/07/2026

As a larval hyperlexic, I just didn't understand what a bookseller could possibly buy with my money that was better than the books they already had? 3/

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