The State of Print Today
Today, print has matured to a state where the majority of modern society has come to have certain expectations regarding the printed book:
- The knowledge contained by printed books is believed to be accurate.
- The cited author of a printed book does indeed exist and is actually the person who wrote it.
- Every copy of a printed book is identical (at least in the important aspects) to every other copy, no matter how far apart the locations are in which they are sold.
Copyright laws help to protect these standards. However, a few regions do exist in the world where literary piracy has become a standard commercial practice. In such regions, the preceding expectations are not the norm. (Johns 61)
Currently, there are still approximately 2.3 billion books still sold each year worldwide. However, this number is steadily decreasing due to the ever-growing popularity of the Internet and other forms of digital media.
Read more about this topic: Print Culture
Famous quotes containing the words state, print and/or today:
“Indiana was really, I suppose, a Democratic State. It has always been put down in the book as a state that might be carried by a close and careful and perfect organization and a great deal of—[from audience: “soap”Ma reference to purchased votes, the word being followed by laughter].
I see reporters here, and therefore I will simply say that everybody showed a great deal of interest in the occasion, and distributed tracts and political documents all through the country.”
—Chester A. Arthur (1829–1886)
“Summer set lip to earth’s bosom bare
And left the flushed print in a poppy there.”
—Francis Thompson (1859–1907)
“The adequate study of culture, our own and those on the opposite side of the globe, can press on to fulfillment only as we learn today from the humanities as well as from the scientists.”
—Ruth Benedict (1887–1948)