Books themselves function as an artifact that is vital to our shared human experience–they have become a necessity as our needs have progressed over the course of time; this is further exemplified when analyzing the materialistic culture behind literature and books. Amoranth states, “The book, after all, is a portable data storage and distribution method, and it arises as a by-product of the shift from oral to literature culture, a process that takes centuries and is informed through cultural exchange” (Amaranth 16). Because we have transitioned from an oral to literature culture it demonstrates our underlying values– we desire to archive knowledge; books have not only cultural value but are a tool– similar to usb’s and hard drives, books act in a similar manner– they store and share information– information that will be passed on to future generations of readers and scholars. And, this can be viewed from a wide array of cultures– from Mesopotamia’s clay tablets to religious scriptures; each culture has created a necessity to reliably store and disseminate ideas. Furthermore, the fact we have moved from oral to written information signify that written literature is a culture adaptation from our needs– intrinsically, making language fixed for the time period in which the writings take place. This is a result from an amalgamation of fixed cultural apparatuses and exchange from different global values that emerge from our shared experience and values. This is evidenced by the digital humanities– once again, as a society we have evolved and adopted new means of written literature; physical books have evolved into pdfs and ebooks. We have created a necessity and a solution based on our needs. It is easier to download books and annotate them via a pdf reader rather than having to hunt them down at different bookstores– it is almost instantaneous– which again, demonstrates how our culture has shifted– looking for instant rather than delayed gratification.