The Gutenberg Parenthesis: The Age of Print and Its Lessons for the Age of the Internet

by Jeff Jarvis

The Gutenberg Parenthesis traces the epoch of print from its fateful beginnings to our digital present – and draws out lessons for the age to come.

The age of print is a grand exception in history. For five centuries it fostered what some call print culture – a worldview shaped by the completeness, permanence, and authority of the printed word. As a technology, print at its birth was as disruptive as the digital migration of today. Now, as the internet ushers us past print culture, journalist Jeff Jarvis offers important lessons from the era we leave behind.

To understand our transition out of the Gutenberg Age, Jarvis first examines the transition into it. Tracking Western industrialized print to its origins, he explores its invention, spread, and evolution, as well as the bureaucracy and censorship that followed. He also reveals how print gave rise to the idea of the mass – mass media, mass market, mass culture, mass politics, and so on – that came to dominate the public sphere.

What can we glean from the captivating, profound, and challenging history of our devotion to print? Could it be that we are returning to a time before mass media, to a society built on conversation, and that we are relearning how to hold that conversation with ourselves? Brimming with broader implications for today's debates over communication, authorship, and ownership, Jarvis' exploration of print on a grand scale is also a complex, compelling history of technology and power.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Politics, Cultural, Technology, Audiobook, Journalism

336 pages, Paperback

Published October 3, 2024

About the author

Jeff Jarvis is an American journalist writing for publications such as New York Daily News, the San Francisco Examiner, and The Guardian. In 2006 he became an associate professor at City University of New York's Graduate School of Journalism, directing its new media program. He is a co-host on This Week in Google, a show on the TWiT Network.


Picture by Robert Scoble

Reviews

[André Spiegel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could have gone well. There was an age before the book, and then came the age of the book, and then there was an age after the book. The age of the book, named after its inventor, Gutenberg, was a parenthesis, something with a beginning and an end. The Gutenberg Parenthesis.

But that is not what this book says. It says: There was an age before the book, and then the book was invented, and it will be with us forever. Also, some other things are happening, but we don't know much about them.

Jeff Jarvis tells the story of how printing was invented. It's more like he celebrates it, and does so in great detail. Like, who took a loan from whom to rent which building to print which books in what year. That is fascinating history, a great read.

Then we get into the now times, and things become a lot more blurry and essayistic. That is on purpose. Jarvis says that we are too close to what is happening today to really understand it. He considers it hubris to make any predictions about how technology will develop and what it will do to us.

What we should do, according to Jarvis, is get together and decide what we want the future to be like. I'm sorry, but – really? If only we had gotten together before Mark Zuckerberg made Facebook and steered it in a better direction? If only we'd had a say when Windows was written? This is neither how technology nor society works.

Also, not a word about the future of the book. It is only in the afterword that Jarvis wonders if he hasn't forgotten something. And he has a confession to make. He says that in the past he may have "called for the book to be rethought and remade, digital and connected." But he is wiser today: "I recant."

He now goes with Umberto Eco, the most iconic figure of the printed universe of our time, who minced no words about it: "The book is like the spoon, scissors, the hammer, the wheel. Once invented, it cannot be improved."

So there is no Gutenberg Parenthesis. The book contradicts its own title. The age of the book started, and it will be with us forever. At least according to Jeff Jarvis.

[Siobhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Gutenberg Parenthesis is a book about the history of printing and what we might learn from it to take forward with the internet and media as it is, all through the lens of the idea that the age of printing revolutionised by Gutenberg's invention is closing. Short chapters lay out not only the history of printing, communication, and copyright, but also key scholarly debates about these areas (and Jarvis' own views on some of these). For the first part of the book, this is mostly in isolation, but later these discussions of print are woven with discussions of the internet, as Jarvis draws out comparisons (having said at the start that it isn't a return to history, but rather we can learn from it).

The overview of printing is interesting and the short chapters mean it is fairly accessible as an academic book. I expected more about the internet, and as someone who has read about both topics but more recently about the internet and issues arising from it, I felt like there could've been more in depth engagement with the internet and where print helps us view ideas relating to it, for example around the structure and form of ideas and discourse. The afterword talking about the book needing to be allowed to be a book still was a good thing to be raised, but there could've been more about the impact of the changing digital culture on renewed interest in print books and if that relates back to the book's thesis of the end of the Gutenberg age and what that means for the internet.

[Jamie Crutchley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jarvis starts out with a strong hook, suggesting that our conversations online are more akin to medieval modes of communication in their individual and idiosyncratic nature. Then without explanation, the book jolts into a detailed accounting of the mechanisms of early print - the paper, the casts, the inks. The progress of print media all the way down to modern computing is outlined. This is the strongest part of the book, but definitely not what was advertised in the introduction or blurb.

The second half of the book is a jumbled mess. It’s a book that only an American steeped in their own culture could write. Full of idealistic zeal and grand proclamations, it’s a veritable ‘liberty!’ bingo. The importance of the unrestricted exchange of ideas sits awkwardly next to the importance of creating a space for marginalised groups. The former often code for “I’m just saying what everyone is thinking” racism and the later as a prescriptive policing of language in the service of equality.

Overall I would recommend reading the first half if you are interested in the mechanical history of print media. The second half can be torn off and used as kindling.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reasonably accessible book which delves into the history and purpose of printing, books, and also its future with the internet and current state of the world. Has some pretty fascinating tidbits of how books came to be and also some interesting takeaways on where we go from here.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good book that gives a reader a solid overview of the issues around publishing from its start until the digital era.
You'll be able to understand the origins of and impact of Guttenberg's popularization of the printing press.
There are, however, some rather extreme shortcuts made when comparing censorship over the centuries to attempts to maintain a minimal level of information integrity in the digital era.

Burning of books is not the same thing as limiting somebody's ability to post threats online.

[Book Club of One · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeff Jarvis's The Gutenberg Parenthesis: The Age of Print and Its Lessons for the Age of the Internet is a condensed history of the development and spread of printing from its beginnings to our present age of post print. But it is more than just at technological history, Jarvis also grapples with the way society changed and adapted to the possibilities of print. Alongside the history of the book and printing, Jarvis looks at key events, legal decisions or advancements of copyright and communication.

The Gutenberg Parenthesis is divided into three parts. It begins by defining and then explaining what the Gutenberg Parenthesis is. Greatly simplified, it is the distribution of information in a physical medium from Gutenberg to the rise of the internet. Section two, the longest section, takes into this time period with chapters moving chronologically from the pre-printing age through Gutenberg and the development of the newspaper and electrification and industrializing of print. Section three, in more essayist chapters, explores where we are now and considers the future. (Yes there will still be books).

At it's heart this book explores distribution of knowledge and information. One of the major considerations is the act of gatekeeping, during the parenthesis those who controlled the print controlled what was distributed, but as we enter a post print world, those barriers are lessening.

Jarvis sees the future as a hopeful place where we can shape the world we want to see by maintaining and teaching the values most important. He argues that these are the humanities and by moving control of the Internet away from companies like Facebook.

It is still too soon to say what the internet has done or will do to us, but the question is still very much what can we do with it?

This book will be of interest to readers of book history, technology and society and communication.

I received a free digital version of this Ebook via NetGalley thanks to the publisher.

[Shannon Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a magnificent example of an academic work of the highest caliber. Written very much of this year but also gathering up 500 years of history into a narrative that is about our time and our past and the future. Not just of books but of society.

Having recently read many lesser books this is a great example of what an academic book can truly be. A book that builds upon centuries of other works and authors and researchers. This is not a simple or particular quick read but neither is it overly dense. I think it makes a very persuasive case and for me at least inspires much thought and a desire to read more and to delve deeper into the sources he cites.

I am perhaps less sanguine about the usefulness of Twitter (now X) in the future and I see some alternatives arising already that he may have been unaware of (digital forms of books arising from the table top roleplaying industry that form a new hybrid model of book and application and data source) as well as forming new forms of creative expression. But those are minor quibbles about an important and vital book.

Partial disclosure - a bunch of the folks he cites and refers to over the course of this book are folks I know as well from having been in similar circles for the past few decades online.

[Diego P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

My interest deflated by the end. I don’t agree with a lot he says and it’s funny how the book was written before the election. The history bits were nice but im sure there are better books on the subject.

[Louis S · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started strong but it got weaker as the book kept going. A lot of historical information that was interesting but didn’t feel important to include.

[Laney Dugan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really excited about this book. I think I was hopeful it would be a more current articulation of Neil Postman’s work from the 80’s… but alas, it was not. It had good moments, but the bulk of the book was a rather dull and monotonous recounting of the history of print… and I personally just don’t feel like that is the authors specialty (although I’m willing to say that maybe I’m just not the person who would rightly appreciate it!). Some parts of the more practical “Leaving the Parenthesis” section were interesting, but the author is wildly optimistic about the future of technology and “the net,” and there was no real acknowledgement of the very sobering social and mental damage being done to people through unfettered access to the net. You’d think Silicon Valley whistleblowers like Tristan Harris and Jaron Lanier or authors like Jonathan Haidt don’t exist or aren’t vocal. Anyway, I wanted to try to see things from his optimistic perspective, but it was hard for me to not feel like he was blissfully ignorant of significant issues with the internet and social media/news platforms specifically.

[J Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Gutenberg Parenthesis: The Age of Print and Its Lessons for the Age of the Internet, by Jeff Jarvis, is a wonderful history of the print era and a thought-provoking discussion of what it can mean for our current age.

The Gutenberg Parenthesis is the period from the time of the creation of type in the west until the release of the first public browser, Netscape Navigator. The beginning point is pretty understandable, the end point serves as the point at which the internet became easily navigable for the general public, so it makes sense as well. The middle section is essentially the history of that period as it pertains to communication and print. I was a little surprised just how interesting it was, not that I expected boring. But making connections between events and the role of print and mass (such as it was) communication was intriguing.

In an interview Jarvis mentions that the new age is very much like the age(s) before the Gutenberg press, namely more conversational and collaborative while having fewer gatekeepers. In making the comparison I think it needs to be pointed out that even with the similarities what happened between the two has, and will continue to have, an impact that makes a simplistic comparison misleading. I'm not accusing Jarvis of that but it is a caution that should be front of mind.

He also made an interesting comment that, the more I think about it, makes sense. He talks about how it wasn't the nailing to the door the ability to print and distribute text that made Luther's stance so powerful. This, of course, led to the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation. Then in his highlighting of the internet as giving voices that have always been present but ignored he likens #BlackLivesMatter as a parallel to the Reformation and the January 6 insurrection as a parallel to the Counter-Reformation. In other words, when more people have an avenue for their voices to be heard, those in power, the gatekeepers, fear losing their unwarranted privilege and respond. I find this an idea worth considering.

One thing he points out is that while things seem to be happening quickly, we should consider that it might not be as quick as we think or fear. He uses the long timeline from Gutenberg to Netscape to highlight the many changes that took place. I agree with the general idea, but that doesn't negate the possibility that things are still happening fairly quickly. In other words, what took 75 years within the parenthesis may, for example, take only 15 years now. Word travels much faster, as well as humans themselves travelling much faster. So while we may indeed be panicking too much and too soon, we can't look to the previous timeline too much as a guide for calming ourselves.

I would recommend this to readers concerned about how and/or whether we need to censor or heavily police the internet as well as anyone simply interested in the topic of communication, particularly print, through the ages.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

[John Park · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read. This started with a yt video from John Green. He went through a series of “post-election takes” on twitter from random people and assessed whether they were valid. One of the fundamental truths that he came to, and which I agree with, is that much of what is defining this political moment is the way the internet has completely fucked our intake of information. We are consuming facts and news in a way that none of our institutions can respond to and it’s splintering us. He cited this book as a good analysis of this phenomenon.

Gonna be honest, was a slow read. I’m a slow reader generally 😝 but it was more focused on the history of the printing press than I had anticipated. If I were recommending this to a friend, and they weren’t super gassed on learning the intricacies of how press tiling shifted to the linotype or how guilds impacted the spread of the press in Mintz, I wud say u cud read the intro, skip about 8 chapters and they get to his whole diagnosis of the current state.

With that said, the diagnosis and analysis is fascinating. One of my largest takeaways was just the zoomed out nature through which we need to understand the internet and this moment. He makes the point that the press is invented in ~1440. Martin Luther doesn’t pin his grievances to the Castle Church until 80 years later. Cervantes doesn’t invent the novel with Don Quixote for another 80 years. News, essays, books, all of the institutions that we associate print with aren’t even invented until many many years after the press. The point being, we don’t even know what the internet will be yet. It’s like 1470 in Gutenberg years and I think we need to remember that when we make these proclamations about the downfall of society because of this technology.

On that note, I love the fact that this is not a doomer book. My personal philosophy always puts me in opposition to the folks who scream we’re going to “Hell in a hand basket” I think that things and people are always getting better, kinder, more equitable. So Jarvis’ hopefulness surrounding the internet and what it could be really resonates with me. It has the capacity to decentralize giving more voice to people who have never had it before. I think that’s good and I think we just need to figure out how to facilitate good speech, good conversation with institutions that reward the best parts of us. We got this!!!!

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have long been a fan of Sauerberg and Pettitt's notion of the Gutenberg Parenthesis. Pettitt gave a talk at MIT about it about 15 years ago and it made waves online, despite the fact it wasn't officially published anywhere. And for good reason too--his articulation of the schema was clear and compelling. It encapsulated the best of media ecology, history, and orality/print culture research. It's one of those academic concepts that is a game changer for multiple fields.

Understandably, I was ecstatic when a journalist released a book about it last year. And Jarvis is a great writer with a strong grasp of each of the fields I mentioned above. Early on in my reading, I assigned it as required reading for my intro to media studies class. Indeed, for the first half of the book, I was planning on giving it 5 stars here.

However, for the last third of the book or so, I didn't like the turn Jarvis chose to make. It wasn't the payoff I was hoping for. I suppose it's his take on the second half of the title: "Its Lessons for the Age of the Internet." But, as someone who sometimes gets fatigued from reading many of the same arguments made over and over in academic scholarship, I found myself unsatisfied with his conclusions. No doubt fans of his book will bristle hearing this, since his conclusions are so much in lockstep with critical theory. I know, I know, shame on me for feeling this way. But I feel like the final third of the book was a missed opportunity for Jarvis.

I was hoping Jarvis would talk more about the "post-parenthetical era," focusing on the potential for aesthetic innovation, narrative remixing, and the homologies between the pre- and post-parenthetical eras that made the original schema so intriguing. Rather, Jarvis begins editorializing about the state of journalism, discourse, diversity, the "masses" and so forth. These are not unimportant topics, to be sure, but scholars like James Carey and Nancy Fraser have already been discussing them for forty years. I was hoping that Jarvis would aim for something more ambitious in the later stages of the book. It's a good book, nevertheless--I just won't be assigning the final chapters as essential readings for my class anymore.

[Charlie Deichman-Caswell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot to chew on. The TikTok ban was happening while I was reading this and certain passages from Jarvis's megalith helped me process those events. He covers a lot and offers a very comprehensive cross-comparison of the invention of Gutenberg's printing press and the advent of the internet. This book is strongest in its analysis of social and political dynamics in the age of Gutenberg. He is correct that there are some important lessons from that time that can be applied in the Internet Age, especially having to do with the creation of mass society, authorship and the ownership of ideas. There has perhaps never been a time when our lives have been so entirely governed by the media we consume, and it is important to understand the contexts in which the mediascape exists.
Nonetheless, I remain unconvinced by Jarvis's central thesis. He fails to adequately argue that the Gutenberg parenthesis is, in fact, a parenthesis. I wish that he had put more time into drawing direct comparisons between the pre-Gutenberg era and the Internet Age, to illustrate that this is, somehow, a "return." One of his greatest struggles in this book is tying these two ages together, for example in his discussion of the censorship of media and reactions to the sibling technologies. He rails against the censorship of free speech, but insists that institutions should be built around social media sites to curb hate speech, or at least to set clear guidelines for the use of those platforms. How are community guidelines meant curb hate speech like publishing houses? Don't both institutions function with a certain degree of implicit censorship? Who has the power to create these online guidelines?
Just at the moment when I thought that he would discuss these questions, Jarvis delves into tangential historical examples. His examples are insightful, but his central argument becomes muddled as soon as he brings history into its present-day context.
Excited to see how studies like this evolve with the invention of AI and so forth.

[Elizabeth Saltmarsh Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Gutenberg Parenthesis really comes together in the last chapter. I don't mean to imply it's not worth reading the other 19 - they both provide the setup that makes that chapter work, and provide an interesting exploration of the history of the printed word, and all the different institutions that it touched. I enjoyed many of the stories he tells along the way to illustrate the ways that printing affected our world. But it's in looking to the future and using that lens to critique some of our natural reactions to the uncertainty introduced by the nascent internet that I found myself the most excited and interested. Many of the issues we find ourselves flummoxed by today are tied up in the changes to our society and culture that the internet has brought about. Because we're still in the midst of that change and experiencing it through the lens of what has been, we aren't always able to see clearly how to solve these issues - how to get from where we are to where we want to be. In many ways, we can't know where we want to be yet because the full extent of the possibilities haven't revealed themselves to us. It is giving me a little hope, as I live through what we're all living through, to think of what can be on the other side of 50-100 years of change and growth. It's vitally important that we participate in that change and growth to shape the outcomes - even though we can't always imagine the best possibilities, we need to avoid the worst. But in being reminded that the world may look very different at the end of my lifetime, I'm reminded of the good technology can be used to accomplish if we set our minds to it. I see people every day committed to discovering and bringing about these good outcomes, and I have faith that there are enough of us to make it happen.

[Pablo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tesis: la imprenta abrió un paréntesis histórico que se está cerrando y es un cambio de época multi-dimensional, hay muchos paralelos con esa época hoy.

El libro es medio "clunky", no termina de ser una historia de la imprenta pero le dedica muchísimo espacio a contar esa historia. No termina de darle el espacio y pensamiento que merece el fenómeno y ataca algunas ideas muy por arriba. Le faltó o academia o huevos para decir lo que cree y ya.

Eso dicho, me hizo pensar: la vuelta a una cultura de oralidad, la explosión horizontal de la expresión y el deseo de controlarla o taparla, la puesta en cuestión e insuficiencia de las instituciones anteriores. El libro como habilitador de un cierto tipo de cultura (algo de Habermas y McLuhan hay). Creemos en las explicaciones de fenómenos en tanto la explicacion siga una línea causal y lógica (que cabe en la forma-libro). Pero nos enfrentamos a fenómenos que no son condensables en relatos, sino en estadística, grandes números y caos (que no se prestan bien a entendimientos "legibles")

No lo leí en dos días, lo había empezado el año pasado y lo dejé por aburrido. No me arrepiento de leerlo, no se si lo recomendaría.

Me gustaría saber si hay más libros que vayan específicamente al período después de la invención de la imprenta para entender mejor el hoy.

[Aditya Nambiar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of ideas in this one, some compelling, and some leave a little to be desired in my opinion.

The first half is mostly a recap of the history of print, which I found quite interesting since I really had no knowledge of the invention of Gutenberg and its subsequent adoption in Europe.

The second half, the more interesting half, discusses the impact of print media on society, and the lessons we can learn for the age of the internet. While I found the discussion of how print shaped a certain way of "seeing" the world, and embracing a view of the world as a "story", to be very well thought out, I felt the book struggled a bit once it got to the section where it talked about the potential impact of the internet on society. It felt a little bit that the author backed out of a more radical reading of his own argument.

Still, there were some good moments in that section of the book as well, so I'd still recommend this to anyone interested in the impact of media modes on society in general.

[Rob Sedgwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this first part of the book about the history of printing. The second part was hard to follow the point, basically that we should learn from the lessons of what happened in the age of print (nearly 1000 years ago and affecting only a tiny elite). My take is that the book will live on (according to the final chapter) but journalism will struggle as so many people can produce their own content online. In reality, the vast majority of people are still net consumers, not net producers and probably always will be. The author admits (in a book) that we are only at the start of the online era and its future uses are hard to envisage - they are in effect unknown unknowns. He tells us how the printing press, novels, radio, TV etc were all decried by the doom merchants, I felt that this book itself fell somewhat into this trap of doom-mongering. Yes, everything is changing, but human nature doesn't.

[Kyle Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely illuminating. Fundamentally restructures a lot of my thoughts on the new age of many-to-many communication technology and (some) of its influences on the culture. In particular, really helped me see that many of the institutions I've been viewing as permanent, landmark fixtures of a functional society—and whose demise I have been really worried about—are actually quite recent and entirely contingent on particular modes of information transfer and authority. I still worry that the speed of disruption will be destabilizing on the culture, but maybe the age of stabilization is over, at least for the next few decades. I don't know. I've been looking for things to help me understand what's going on with *gestures broadly*, and I think I'm probably gonna spend the second Trump administration throwing myself into things like this, because I simply can't scroll my way through it this time.

[Peter Sidell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book about the physical capture of memory

A book about the physical capture of memory.
I am tempted to say it is a discussion of how:”the more things change the more they stay the same.”
Books can be thought of as peripheral brains. The Gutenberg parenthesis can be thought of as one aspect in the history of that development.
Stephen Jay Gould spoke of evolution of biological life as punctuated. A process of jumps between stages followed by gradual refinements of those stages. He stressed that evolution should not be thought of as a process of improvement but as a development of diversity.
This book suggests to me that the evolution of ideas and their preservation should be through of the same way.
Rather than thinking of ‘survival of the fittest’ we should think of survival by finding new ways to fit in.

[Niclas Küpper · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is divided into two parts. The first half is a technological, social, economic and legal history of print, mostly restricted to the west. As someone unfamiliar I was impressed with the scope of this part. Everything from the innovations in metallurgy and mechanics, to labor unions and the complaints of scribes is covered.

The second part is largely commentary. While I directionally agree with the politics of his "takes", they do not deliver a particularly deep insight into the new internet age that we have now entered. I believe the issue the author runs into is the lack of a strong thesis beyond "there are some parallels between the internet and pre-Gutenberg oral traditions". His advice for our new era is essentially "have good institutions that are good".

Overall I would still recommend this book to anyone interested, but maybe just skim the second half.

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

I solidly disagree with 20% of this book, but it is a really interesting read, and feeds into something that I've been focused on since my undergrad. As a digression, my thesis ended up being Tristan and Shandy and interruptions, where I argued that modernist literature was a reversion to the oratorio that Sterne would have practiced as an Anglican minister. As someone who has a bad habit of interrupting people (I'm listening as I talk I swear) I found it very compelling, and the tyranny of the written word has been something I've been fascinated with ever since, as I filled my understanding with the theoretical works of greats like Habermas, Foucault, and Mcluhan.

Definitely not for everybody, but a surprisingly accessible academic text, and an excellent addition to anybody who's struggling with what stuff like AI means for the future.

[Michael Meyers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Took me forever to get through this one. I was expecting more of a timeline to learn about tomes pre-book, the golden age of books, and then the tomes nowadays where print media seems to be dying.

Jarvis goes into GREAT detail about how the printing press works. Im glad that he found this part interesting, but I was personally looking for more commentary about the effects of print media than a really deep analysis on how it worked.

If you’d like to learn about the printing press then this is more like a 4/5, but if youre looking for expert insight from the journalism professor about how what we can draw parallels to for the modern day (as the subtitle suggests), then mayve skip to the last 3/4 book to avoid ALLLLL the details of how a printing press works and the story of like the dude and town Gutenberg or whatever.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed much of this book. While I found the writing somewhat more formal and less conversational than I usually like, the book was very readable and mercifully, Jarvis kept his sentences from going on interminably. However, amidst the formality of language, the writing would, at times, be delightfully conversational. There were also clever parenthetical remarks that helped me get to know the author a little. The history of the internet was also excellent. I did not agree with the author on some of the regulatory issues later in the book, but I felt that Jarvis clearly gave his reasoning, so I didn’t have to agree with him in order to enjoy the book. Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Academic for the digital review copy.

[James Hendrickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating book and very timely for the liminal moment we are in.

This book is fascinating and definitely worth reading but it was a little slow to develop for me. It felt like it took a while to get to Gutenberg, but once we did the cultural impact of the book really came through in this.

My only other complaint is that the book felt like it started to wind down about 100 pages from the end which felt like a very long wind down.

Lots of lessons as we start to look at Web 3.0. I found the time it took for innovations on the new mediums to occur to be fascinating. This means that our Internet innovations are probably “baby innovations” with many more interesting things to come.

[Cole Casper · Rating 5 out of 5]

This really landed for me. The book provides a compelling case that we are simply not yet set up as a society to deal with how information is disseminated via the net.

I just wish I was as optimistic as Jeff Jarvis on where this all ends.

Everyone in history has had their informational boogeyman. And so far, the new invention boogyman has ended up making society better for the everyman. But will this trend continue? Or have the bad actors and profiteers already gotten too much of a head start on rigging the “institutions” that need to be adapted to the age of the net for the truth to ultimately win out?

I for one hope Jeff Jarvis is right on this one.

[Mara Bowden]

BIG DNF. My boyfriend and I listened to the first 20% thinking the initial premise was interesting on a road trip. At about the same time we turned to each other asking, “he hasn’t said anything more since the preface, right?”. Literally 20% in and nothing more than the preface had been covered. And the preface also had some pretty bold claims I needed to see elaborated on. VERY clear this is written by a journalist and not a historian and a historian should have been the major contributor imo.

I should listen to the talk the author referred to multiple times. That seems to be much more interesting. And medieval historian is the exact person I want to learn from about this.

[Steve · Rating 1 out of 5]

How bizarre! I have never seen anything like this as an ARC (print or ebook) before.
Every page was covered by large font warnings that this was a prepublication and was not to be shared.
And then, as I swiped to the next page (page numbers not givern, just ebook locations) it obviously skipped a couple pages, or more!
Thanks so much for an incomplete book! (/s) Maybe a third of the book is included here?
I downloaded it a 2nd time, to see if it had been corrected, and got the same useless partial content.

[Katie Oeschger]

I absolutely enjoy learning about inventors, the stories behind their inventions, etc. This book describes the birth of the printing press - which revolutionized the world, the way she share thoughts and ideas, etc. I highly recommend - especially if you work in tech.

[MarkGrabe Grabe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scholarly and well argued

Text follows the history of the externalization and communication of knowledge. Similar to Winchester’s knowing what we know, but more structured and thus easier to follow.