A few posts ago I wrote about the website http://www.gutenberg.org and it’s huge list of free e books.
The name of the website is obviously inspired by the inventor of the modern press.
Looking around internet, I happened to stumble upon a short but very interesting essay by E.R. Beardsley entitled ”digital Gutenberg, everyperson as publisher”.
The essay is divided in two main parts.
The first is a short history of publishing techniques and the influences they (especially Gutenberg’s movable type printing) had on culture and it’s diffusion throughout the world, while the second part focuses instead on how the massive diffusion of computers, internet and professional publishing tools are influencing, and have only just begun, the way culture and information are acquired and created.
The power to generate and diffuse any information is always more in the hands of potentially everyone, or as Beardsley would probably prefer, everyperson.
According to the author, the potential effects of this new “democratic power” on the world could be just as important (or more), as Gutenberg’s revolution and I’m pretty sure, for the better and for the worse, that he’s right.
Debate on this topic should be able to make its voice be heard, as it is probably one of the current events that will have most influence on future generations, so why not start out by getting some information on it?
Here’s the link to the essay:
http://www.intangible.org/DigiGut/GutHome.html
The essay is published on:
htey describe themselves as "a nonprofit web publisher devoted tothe arts and humanities", i haven't got to look at it too well, i only read the essay i just wrote about, but it looks like an interesting resource for information.
Try looking at it and you might find more interesting things to read
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