In the 1990 sci-fi movie Total Recall, Arnold Schwarzenegger and other residents of a futuristic Earth take their vacations virtually — by having computerized pleasure-trip experiences inserted in their brains while their bodies veg out at home. This method was presumably cheaper — and safer — than physically going on holiday.

As the Governator discovers, computer-assisted travel can be more dangerous than the real thing (not to mention the cost of even a virtual flight to Mars).

Our world today is becoming, irrevocably, more virtual by the minute. And it too presents dangers — not so much to individuals as to societies, neighborhoods, even the Main streets of Martha’s Vineyard.

The latest example: The national trend of buying books online, which has led to the shutdown of numerous bookstores including the Borders chain, may contribute to leaving the Island with just one place to buy new books — the Bunch of Grapes in Vineyard Haven. The owner of Edgartown Books disclosed this week that after 10 years in business he is closing the much revered establishment. And while the digital book-buying trend may not be the predominant reason for the closure, it might well discourage another bookstore from moving in to the same location, a scenario that Edgartown Books owner David LeBreton hopes for.

The texture of Vineyard life is woven with face-to-face, hands-on experiences, like visits to farms, markets, shops...and bookstores. Stopping into Edgartown Books has become integral to numerous lives here, as Shelley Christiansen conveys so well on this page.

Main street, Edgartown, has lost more than its share of businesses in recent years, and the departure of Mr. LeBreton’s venerable bookstore could certainly be seen as a depressing continuation of that trend.

But other developments make us more optimistic. Main street, Vineyard Haven, which also has lost a number of establishments, seems to be on the verge of re-energizing itself with the pending expansion of the Stop and Shop and the expected infusion of several new businesses (see Vanessa Czarnecki’s story on page one). This prospect can and should lift our collective, commercial spirits.

Call it the Island yin and yang. The Vineyard ebb and flow.

On his recent visit to the Island, Congressman William Keating suggested that the area’s economic woes might be partially alleviated by lessening travel restrictions on potential vacationers to the U.S. from other countries. Fortunately, if and when they join the current legions of Vineyard vacationers, they will not be coming courtesy of a “Total Recall” -like computer chip, but in person.

And despite the recent closings, they will find a spectrum of shops and restaurants — old and new — where they can not only buy things, but browse, schmooze and get to know Islanders and fellow visitors alike.

On Martha’s Vineyard, when one store closes, another one usually opens.