Battles
fought between publishers-librarians over formats (book sizes)
and fonts (Gothic versus Roman) were ultimately decided by
consumer preferences. Multimedia was born. The e-book will,
probably, undergo a similar transition from being the static
digital rendition of a print edition - to being a lively,
colorful, interactive and commercially enabled creature.
The commercial lending library and, later, the free library
were two additional reactions to increasing demand. As early
as the 18th century, publishers and booksellers expressed the
fear that libraries will cannibalize their trade. Two
centuries of accumulated experience demonstrate that the
opposite has happened. Libraries have enhanced book sales and
have become a major market in their own right.
VI. The State of Subversion
Publishing has always been a social pursuit and depended
heavily on social developments, such as the spread of literacy
and the liberation of minorities (especially, of women). As
every new format matures, it is subjected to regulation from
within and from without.
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