Scott Berkun discusses what he sees as the highest impact innovation in terms of books prior to the Kindle:
The invention of cheap paperback books, Penguin makes books cheap enough for the average citizen (1935). This was a revolution in the U.S. as it made books cheap, portable and part of middle and lower class culture.
If anything I think paperback books are the best comparison as they were a revolution in distribution, access, convenience and portability much like the Kindle is. They also revolutionized the business model for authors, publishers and bookstores, much like Kindle will if it’s success continues.
I think he has a solid point here. Movable type was critical for making it possible to mass produce and widely distribute the written word. Paperbacks had a similar impact, by reducing the price and the physical characteristics of books, further widened their distribution. The Kindle has similarly impacted the ease with which books can be distributed, both in terms of geography and speed.
But I wonder if there isn’t another innovation, or significant change, that impacted the book more than either movable type or the paperback. My instincts tell me that the advances in literacy and its growth outside of elites would have had a major impact on the adoption and distribution of books. Was this due to compulsory education? Advances in economics, trade, etc.? Now of course there is a chicken-and-egg scenario here: did the increase in literacy rates make books more desirable or did the mass distribution and increased affordability of books contribute to increased literacy rates? I am sure someone has teased this relationship out, I’m just not aware of the literature.
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | Amazon.com, Innovation, kindle
Two absolutely huge factors, neuther actually an innovation in book MAKING. That said, (1) the invention of small letters, at the court of Charlemagne in the 800s. Suddenly it was possible for readers to observe that some words were names, or had significance as the start of sentences, or had importance of some sort within the sentence. (2) the invention of spacing between words, also at Charlemagne’s court, so readers could reliably detect the end and beginning of words.
A number (3) factor, beginning about the same time, but elsewhere if memory imforms me correctly: the supercession of scross by codices — (or “codexes” – bound volumes with pages of the sort still used today). I’m not quite sure exactly what intitial impact this had — codices were in use in Egyptian times, a thousand years before there were any Romans. OTOH,
Gutenberg-style printing was probably made a whole lot simpler by printing comparatively small pages rather than full scrolls.
Anyhow …
Before these inventions, text was presented entirely in capital letters with no spaces, and it was virtually impossible for most “readers” to interpret text without reading it aloud — their understanding of text required that they hear it, and process it mentally as they did conversations. One of the things that make Julius Ceasar appear so phenomenal to his contemporaries was the ability to read silently.
With small letters and spaces, it became possible to process text visually, at a far faster rate of speed, and likely with better comprehension.
Printing, in comparison, was a minor improvement.
Mike:
Really fascinating stuff–I had no idea about these prior innovations.
Is there some recommended reading?