Reading assignment: Chapters 5-8
It's crazy to think that the Declaration of Independence was printed using Caslon font. Such a significant piece of U.S. history and it can be traced back to Benjamin Franklin and its European roots. It never really occurred to me how books or even the font we use in everyday writing got to this point in time. In order to write this blog post there were people creating these fonts and letters in wood blocks or metal at some point. It was printed on paper and then transferred to books in mass production. Then somewhere along the line it was transferred to the internet for everyone to use.
Declaration of Independence
Back then block printing was just getting started and books were rare and only for the rich. Most early books were of religious significance too. Now, eBooks are the next big thing. Yes, an electronic book is the latest version. Books were only available in paperback and now they are available online to download in minutes! Incredible! Imagine telling a scribe that one day he could download an entire books in minutes. Don't forget to mention babies are reading on iPads too. Completely insane and unheard of. The only big difference would be the internet. We would still be carrying around printed books just like the Italians in the Renaissance. Ours would be more modern but essentially they are the same thing. Now you can find people reading Kindles on airplanes. Don't forget audio books too! The Kindle is still so odd to me. How can you sit there and read a digital book? Don't your eyes hurt after a couple of hours? I already have glasses and reading a printed books hurts my eyes after a couple hours. Yet Amazon keeps coming out with new versions of the Kindle and it seems moderately popular in the U.S. My favorite part about this is not the current technology but the path it came to get here. Literacy was a small privilege in the 1300s saved only for scribes and priests. While they eventually lost their power to printing literacy still managed to rise and continues rising. The only people left who are illiterate mostly remain in third world countries that lack the money and technology or people who can't afford to get an education.
Books vs. Kindles
I went to a presentation at UC Berkeley yesterday and one of the professors was talking about books and how 10% of all books in use right now were published in 2012. That's ridiculous! Of all the books in circulation around the world 10% were made in 2012. I also looked up the statistic to double check. The rough estimate for the current number of books in the world is 210 million. The last official number was 129,864,880 million in 2010 (Skipworth). Google actually counted all the books in the world and created an algorithm to do so. Here's the link for the Google books blog. In 2012 the estimated total of books printed were 2.2 million so yes it's a little more than 10%. I couldn't find a credible source for these numbers though. I do believe these books are getting printed in high volumes. A couple million sounds about right. Whoever said print was dead was clearly mistaken. And yes I googled that too. Apparently it was said in Ghostbusters (1984). As a product of the 90s I should know this but I have no desire to watch the movie. Nor do I believe the actual quote is from a fictionalized movie.
Front page of the NYT in 1912
Overall, I am amazed how far books have come. From woodblock printing to paperbacks to eBooks and kindles. Crazy stuff and the last part has only happened thanks to the internet! Oh internet you managed to change everything in such a little bit of time and you'll never stop. I never imagined getting electronic books as a kid. The idea almost seems as ridiculous as the idea of flying cars (still waiting for that to happen). There's just something about them that I can't handle. Maybe it's because I can't physically see them. HA! As a journalist I love print. I love newspapers. I love reading paperback books but I also love reading all my news online on my iPhone. It's a twist of modern world with old school methods. I've always enjoyed the fact that books and newspapers are portable but now eBooks and mobile phones can do it too so there's no excuse. Until then I'll keep waiting with a newspaper in hand for what the internet revolutionizes next.
Small side note
If you've ever wanted to purchase a new or used book I would recommend BetterWorldBooks.com. I'm not promoting them out of profit or monetary gain but for the work they do. They donate books and help raise money for literacy funding and libraries. Amazing if you ask me but it's all for a good cause!
Sources:
Skipworth, Hunter. "Google Counts Total Number of Books in the World." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 6 Aug. 2010. Web. 14 Oct. 2014. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/7930273/Google-counts-total-number-of-books-in-the-world.html>.
Image sources:
Declaration of Independence
Book vs Kindle
2nd Book/Kindle image
NYT front page
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