The article's fetishization of the experience of the print book and assertions about fundamental differences in reading based on it are luddite.
It's a funny argument to be picking at this moment. There are headlines everywhere about the publishing industry being in crisis for the indefinite future because of supply chain issues and shortages causing systemic break down in bookbinding and delivery, with the take-away warning being, "physical books are going to be hard to find this fall..."
I like books. I like physical books. I read ebooks every day on the Kindle, but I also buy 20x more physical books than the average American.
There are differences. Ebooks and readers could be better. But this sort of polemicism is oddly off key and ill-timed.
Hot-take: like everyone, Ian there is cranky and angry because of the compounded stress of the Trumpist/QAnon horror show, climate change, the pandemic, etc. I know I am.
The Atlantic thought doesn't get that excuse. It's an institution, not an individual...