Some people get it and some never will. A book is far more than just words on paper; many things about printed books many will not understand. And that is fine.
Not sure what you mean by dirty and dry out your hands. Some books do I suppose. I have a dirty first edition or two.
Are you suggesting that for thousands of years people were yearning for books, waiting for them to be invented? Some ancient Roman going "I really love having The Aeneid on these scrolls, but I really wish I had a book." And aside from bragging rights, how is a first edition more special than a later print version, especially if the later editions correct errors? And then there are those people who pay lots of money for the original manuscript and notes of a great book, and value these more than any print edition.
It's not that people don't understand. It is that more important than the romantic myths surrounding books, people value the various ways in which art and knowledge is made widely accessible. Ebooks are firmly a part of this larger tradition.
Nothing wrong with e-books. I am glad people are reading.
There was a time when nobody except the richest could afford books. Very costly to produce. Gutenberg's great invention was to bring a high level of technology to what was largely a hand process. Movable type changed things forever. The growth in publishing over the centuries tells me people wanted books and have always wanted them.
As for first editions, they are different. Perhaps a little Google Time will provide the required education. Collecting books is a complex hobby and you better know what you are doing.
Obviously, First editions are rare compared to subsequent printings, and that increases their value. And pay close attention to the differences between a First Edition and a First Printing of a First Edition.
Not everyone appreciates the differences between these editions. I do, but I also buy books that are in their third printing or much later, so I am not married exclusively to first editions. I buy them when I see them at a good price and hopefully with a dust jacket.
I might suggest to those that prowl book sales, garage sales, and other places to consider what a modern author's books can be worth. Consider that some Stephen King first editions can sell for more than thirty grand.
Then there are the gems that must be first editions for many reasons that would only interest a collector and certainly does not take anything away from the reader experience. I really want a first edition "Old Man and the Sea" and I would dearly love a first edition "A Christmas Carol" in a Cosway style binding, but at almost 40 grand, that is a bit much.
And I am just as happy reading Dickens and Hemingway regardless of when the book was printed.
But like I said, if you are not a collector, you will not appreciate it, and that is fine. The whole of collecting is filled with generalists as well as the nuts with very specific requirements for the whatevers they collect.
I also collect stamps and for me, they must be MNH. Some argue that it does not matter, and many disagree and say it does. All collectors of things have preferences that non-collectors do not understand, and often leaves the non-collector confused. I mean why pay $150.00 for a rare 1896 Gulliver's Travels when a modern printing can be had for a few dollars almost anywhere?
Actually that's happened to me with every format...
