Dr. Thornburg (2008a) defines the Rhyme of History as being an affect or impact of a new development that rekindle something from the distance past. E-book rekindling goes all the way back to Plato the classical Greek Philosopher. How do E-books relates to Plato? Well Plato had a great distrust for the written word, stating that words were “silent; they cannot speak, answer questions, or come to their own defense” (The History of E-books, p. 1). If Plato were alive today, he would be flabbergasted at how wrong he was.
We can fast forward to Germany in 1440 and the invention of the Gutenberg printing press;
even though movable type was already in use in China, a few hundred years earlier. The precision of the Gutenberg’s typesetting was the essential element required for western printing. The relatively inexpensive books were produced on paper, as opposed to parchment. This removed the power of the written word from the hands of the clergy and gave it to the educated middle class (The History of E-books, p. 1).
In 1830, Penny dreadful (similar to how modern comic books) made their appearance. In 1930, paperback books came on the scene. Most of these books would not have been allowed within a hundred yards of a public library or a reader of “serious” literature. Today paperback books are considered a legitimate form of publishing (The History of E-books, p. 1).
E-books appearance on the web was easily shared, was stored on a hard drive or storage disk, and quickly began to proliferate (The History of E-books, p. 1). This industry is still relatively young, generally marking its beginnings in 2000; however, its early years have been marked by market hype, investor fallout and slow market development. Today's industry is at a pivotal point: can obstacles to maturity be overcome or will the industry be either subsumed by the larger consumer electronics or web-based industries (Herther, 2005, p.45). The reason E-books are on an evolutionary path is that many consumers had not embraced the concept of reading literature from a computer until Oprah got involved. When Oprah Winfrey announced that Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader was her favorite gadget at that point, e-books met popular culture. Amazon couldn’t keep enough Kindles in stock to meet the demand. Sony also introduced a portable reader using the same e-ink display (The History of E-books, p. 2). V-Tech also joined the band wagon and introduced the V-Tech Reader for children four – seven years old.
E-books rekindle actual printed; bound books that came about many centuries ago. I believe this technology path is sustainable, because by the year of 2020, very few people will be reading from a traditional book and the e-book cost will decline much like the cost of the first calculator. This bring us back to the famous quote by Mark Twain, “History may not repeat itself, but it sure rhyme a lot” as quoted by (Dr. Thornburg, 2008a Vodcast --the Rhymes of History).
Another way to look at the Rhyme of History is through Kevin Kelly speech, “The next 5,000 Days of the Web,” wherein he discusses the ways the Web will be transformed over the next 5,000 days through embodiment, restricting, and codependency (Kelly, 2007).
We can fast forward to Germany in 1440 and the invention of the Gutenberg printing press;
even though movable type was already in use in China, a few hundred years earlier. The precision of the Gutenberg’s typesetting was the essential element required for western printing. The relatively inexpensive books were produced on paper, as opposed to parchment. This removed the power of the written word from the hands of the clergy and gave it to the educated middle class (The History of E-books, p. 1).In 1830, Penny dreadful (similar to how modern comic books) made their appearance. In 1930, paperback books came on the scene. Most of these books would not have been allowed within a hundred yards of a public library or a reader of “serious” literature. Today paperback books are considered a legitimate form of publishing (The History of E-books, p. 1).
E-books appearance on the web was easily shared, was stored on a hard drive or storage disk, and quickly began to proliferate (The History of E-books, p. 1). This industry is still relatively young, generally marking its beginnings in 2000; however, its early years have been marked by market hype, investor fallout and slow market development. Today's industry is at a pivotal point: can obstacles to maturity be overcome or will the industry be either subsumed by the larger consumer electronics or web-based industries (Herther, 2005, p.45). The reason E-books are on an evolutionary path is that many consumers had not embraced the concept of reading literature from a computer until Oprah got involved. When Oprah Winfrey announced that Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader was her favorite gadget at that point, e-books met popular culture. Amazon couldn’t keep enough Kindles in stock to meet the demand. Sony also introduced a portable reader using the same e-ink display (The History of E-books, p. 2). V-Tech also joined the band wagon and introduced the V-Tech Reader for children four – seven years old.E-books rekindle actual printed; bound books that came about many centuries ago. I believe this technology path is sustainable, because by the year of 2020, very few people will be reading from a traditional book and the e-book cost will decline much like the cost of the first calculator. This bring us back to the famous quote by Mark Twain, “History may not repeat itself, but it sure rhyme a lot” as quoted by (Dr. Thornburg, 2008a Vodcast --the Rhymes of History).
Another way to look at the Rhyme of History is through Kevin Kelly speech, “The next 5,000 Days of the Web,” wherein he discusses the ways the Web will be transformed over the next 5,000 days through embodiment, restricting, and codependency (Kelly, 2007).
Thornburg, D. (2008a). “Rhymes of History” Vobcast. Lake Barrington, IL: Thornburg Center for Space Exploration.
http://www.ebookweek.com/history.html
http://www.ebookweek.com/history.html
Kelly, K. (2007, December). The next 5,000 days of the Web [Speech]. Speech delivered at the EG 2007 Conference, Los Angeles. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/kevin_kelly_on_the_next_5_000_days_of_the_web.html
Nancy K. Herther, (2005) "The e-book industry today: a bumpy road becomes an evolutionary path to market maturity", Electronic Library, The, 23-1 p. 45 – 53. Retrieve on January 5, 2011 from: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1464892&show=html
