Sublime
An inspiration engine for ideas
The Reformation was Europe's first mass-media news event. The quantity of books and pamphlets generated by interest in Luther's teaching was quite phenomenal. It has been estimated that between 1518 and 1526 something approaching eight million copies of religious tracts were placed on the market.30 This was a very one-sided contest. Luther and his
... See moreAndrew Pettegree • The Invention of News: How the World Came to Know About Itself
Television is not old enough to have matched printing’s output of junk.
Neil Postman • Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
This was clearly a period of history that tolerated a certain lack of urgency.
Simon Singh • The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography
In the 1830s, “pamphlets” were popular and used to spread ideas and news and gossip, since they were more ephemeral than books, but they also became irrelevant much faster.
Neil Postman • Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
the equivalent of 140,000 Library of Congress collections.1 Growth
Martin Gurri • Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium
Mass production of books ended the Church’s monopoly on Scripture and information, wider book availability increased literacy, more people could contribute thoughts on important subjects, and it threatened the church’s monopoly on theology and information.