Long live Gutenberg
Predicting the imminent demise of the book is a sport that dates back to at least the late 19th century, when early forms of audio technology began competing with the printed word for the public imagination. Over a century later the book has not only survived the rise of radio, recorded music, movies, television, the Internet, and the e-book, but is thriving like never before, with tens of thousands of new titles published annually. Author Edward Tenner speculates on the tenacity of the printed word in an excellent think piece in The Boston Globe, focusing on the challenges and opportunities presented by the proliferation of the personal computer: “it was the rise of computing that propelled the book’s enhanced role as prestigiously presented information, and the Web and other digital technology that helped spur book authorship. But this in turn has given publishing and authorship a new set of problems.”
Related links:
The Boston Globe Article
