Guest Post: The Future of the Book

Today’s guest post is provided by the Amazing People Club.  I love hearing various people’s take on the “What five famous people would you invite to dinner” question.  It is a common feature in writing exercises and as a “getting to know me” question, and I think it is intriguing to see who people choose.  Well, today’s guest post, provided by the Amazing People Club, is a take on this – in it, the Club’s Dr. Charles J. Margerison hosts an imaginary dinner with Johannes Gutenberg to discuss the written word.  Enjoy!

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Dinner with Johannes Gutenberg; Topic: The Future of the Book

The Proposal

If you could invite anyone to share great ideas, who would you choose? Johannes Gutenberg was my choice, as he created a revolution in reading and writing by developing mass printing technology.

The magic of a new system made the interview possible. The BioView® Time Link is a top -secret system developed by the Amazing People Club.

I developed the Bioview® process in order to meet amazing people from all eras. It enables you to meet, in a virtual sense, those who have made outstanding contributions to music, literature, science, business, engineering, art and other areas. The process is called a BioView® because it is a form of biographical interview. The life and work of each amazing person comes alive through their own personal descriptions. It can be presented in written, audio and video forms by the magic of modern technology. I thought Gutenberg would be interested in seeing this new approach.

The Amazing People Club is the international publishing company of a major series which includes titles such as Amazing Scientists, Amazing Entrepreneurs, Amazing Doctors and Nurses, Amazing Careers and Amazing Women. BioViews® transport readers and listeners through time, so that they can read and hear what people like Shakespeare, Gutenberg and other leaders say through an interpretative interview.
 
The Amazing People Club Guest: Johannes Gutenberg (1398 -1468), Inventor, Printer and Publisher

After our introduction, I started by saying that there are many discussions underway around the world on The Future Of The Book. There are questions regarding what, if any, role the book will play. In the context of how books play a part in supporting educational, scientific and cultural development, people are keen to gain ideas on the future of publications and, in particular, the role of the book.

Johannes Gutenberg said, ‘Well, as I helped start mass production of printed books, I have some views on the subject. ‘When I developed the first printing press, about 1440, there were many people who were against the invention. Scribes objected as they saw it could undermine their income from making copies of texts. Priests objected, as they controlled the scriptures and did not want ordinary people having access to them.

‘About 60 years after my printing press invention, there were in the region of 200 million books in existence. The ability to read and write expanded at a rapid rate and the level of education improved considerably. My printing press opened up new doors of communication and had a major impact on business, religion and politics.

‘So, my view is that books designed to be read on computers and phones will sadly drive out the printed and bound book. That means that bookshops will lose sales, revenue will decline and many shops will close unless they can develop new ways of meeting client needs. The Olde Curiosity Shop will be a bookshop that is a cafe selling second hand books. Great place to browse, but the place for new books is on the internet.

‘It will be mainly the young people who will accept the great inventions of the electronic book. My view is that the printed book in the form that I developed 600 years ago will cease to exist within 20 years.

‘This revolution will be quicker than in my day. It was all so different then. There was no television or radio or films or computer games. Entertainment was mainly at the theatre or at village fairs.

‘Although I enabled books to be printed, it was expensive to publish and therefore the ordinary people could not afford them. People preferred to attend a play, as they found reading difficult. With modern education, I can see that in the developed countries most children are taught to read. The new electronic systems will help them learn more quickly. I am amazed to see how fast children learn to spell using the new word games on their handheld computers.’

‘I see the modern developments in publishing as fascinating. In my day, news and views and innovations only travelled as fast as a horse or a sailing ship. Now, information can travel at the speed of light. It will transform not only publishing but all aspects of research and development. The computer and mobile phones are the new form of a book.

‘Instead of waiting a year or more to publish, you can do it instantly. Facebook and Twitter and other social media sites are the basis for open access instant publishing. Each person with a printer has a printing press. They can develop their publishing organization via links through blogs and hosting systems provided by large companies. Also, the E-magazines will become the new force in publishing and in due course could replace the book as we know it. People will want information in short and quicker form. Serialization of stories will become more popular.=

‘The electronic book will have many forms, but all of them will strengthen democracy. Ideas and political views can be shared easily, unless some dictator turns off the connections. Even then, the book will move to photo journalism and the picture can tell the story immediately without words.

‘In truth, my spirit and that of those who contributed to authoring and publishing, remains through our work. It is our lasting contribution and with modern technology more people will know what we did. In that sense, we can travel through time with the new forms of publication. People like me will be far more famous than when we lived on Earth. Therefore, rather than talking about the book, we should focus discussions on making publications and the way they are distributed.

‘The book is just one form of communication designed for our eyes. In contrast, artists design their communication for people’s eyes. Engineers develop machines that people use by touching. In the future, it will be necessary to consider published communications through the ability to smell, read, see, touch and hear all at the same time. After all, we do that every day in our real life.

‘Therefore, it is an exciting time in publishing, where the integration of the written word, the spoken word, the digital camera and video pictures all come together. the phone is the new book, The computer is the new book. Education will become entertainment and entertainment will be educational.

‘Everyone can become a journalist. Those who wish to share their experience online can become teachers, even though they may not have formal qualifications.

‘The new book is an electronic mobile device the sends and receives. It will have social dangers as well as advantages. It will be hard to control who says what to whom. Therefore, the form of book and article publishing will pose political questions to those in power, but enable those who are unelected to have more influence as they gain more knowledge. I think this publishing revolution is just as important as the one I started.

I thanked him for giving his views.

‘You have left a legacy to inspire others by your great achievements,’ I said. ‘And the next generation will build upon them.’

Dr Charles Margerison is the President of The Amazing People Club, which has over 500 selected honorary members, including those mentioned in this article. All of the members have been interviewed and their stories appear in books and audios. For more information, visit www.amazingpeopleclub.com or www.myamazingpeople.com (blog).