[staplers]

  It's not the end-all greatest thing ever invented, never to be surpassed by anything new.

I think it lends itself well to inherited knowledge/wisdom, which is the main driver of societal advancement. Maybe new media can do this well or better but personally I haven't seen a better medium for direct transfer. Video and audio has too much abstraction involved.

[keiferski]

I don't know, I think that a video of someone doing X thing is vastly more inheritable than a description of it in a book. For raw data or information though, sure, text is better.