Representation and Replication

Sometime in the 1600s, the printing press was invented by Gutenberg, and mass replication of text became possible. Suddenly humanity was on a new path. Previously hand-copied books were of necessity rare, and those who could read were also rare. Caxton moved the printed page from posters into books, and reading objects became more complex. In western culture, the Bible and a few other books had been preserved and studied, but that kind of studying was, in many ways, more like meditation, like lectio divina, rather than what we would call reading today.

The association of reading with the Bible and the development of Protestantism led to a immense campaign for universal literacy - everyone should be able to read so they could read the Bible. At the same time, science was developing, as the spread of reading and books led to the spread of knowledge and/or ideas about what constituted knowledge. Reading became increasingly prevalent and important because of the exact and widespread replication of textual objects, that is, books.

This incremental growth in reading and readers had an interesting impact on readers. They disagreed with each other about what the text "meant." And therein lies my next snippit.

I'm an Owner!

Long time, no whatever, write and read, I guess. I been existing (and I do mean "existing") without a computer of my own. Used my husband's till he got home from his trip. Then used the old IBM clunker in his study, and the open access one in the part-time teacher's lounge. Looking up my mail in two different webmails was awkward and inefficient, so I didn't look as often. Writing without access to all my files was a pain. Printing up my thesis on Jim's computer kept him from using it to edit, so I felt pressured and guilty. All-in-all, I felt limited and even lonely without my computer prosthesis.

Now I have my very own iBook G4, and it's almost fully set up to my desire. I still have a couple of things to sort out, but I can write emails, and get emails without fussing with webmails. I can write up documents. I have PowerPoint problems, but I'm sure I can get that worked out. I like the keyboard, and I love the interface. At the moment, I am a happy camper, especially because I can now get back to writing here!