Yesterday I wondered what the monks who calligraphied those beautiful illuminated Bibles said about Gutenberg:
“Those mass-produced Bibles will never catch on. Would you want one of those in your church?”
“There aren’t any pictures.”
“It doesn’t smell like vellum and parchment. I like that smell.”
“I don’t know. If you don’t get ink all over your fingers, it’s not the same.”
“But there’s no idividuality. Every one of those books is exactly alike.”
And so on.
I’m seeing more and more articles and information about ebooks out there, and I have a feeling that we’re on the verge of something exciting. Get ready to roll, folks. For every one of those folks who say, “I like books made out of paper! I like the texture/smell/taste (whatever) of the paper and ink,” there are five others who are happy to go green and save a tree by buying an electronic book. Incidentally, they also “reduce their carbon footprint” by not driving to the store to buy a book shipped by truck in a cardboard box filled with styrofoam peanuts, but by instantly downloading a book from the publisher.
I’m just wondering how long it will be before the Sony e- reader or the Kindle stop costing so much and become just one more gadget you can grab for $30 on your way past the register at Target.
I wonder what Gutenberg would think…?
