Evolution of Printing in the Digital Era

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The concept of a print run has become less relevant in the digital age, even for books. The shift to digital copies and short-run digital printing has reduced the emphasis on print quantities. Digital printing, using inkjet or toner, is more cost-effective for small runs or on-demand printing. In contrast, offset printing, involving printing presses and ink, typically requires a print run of at least a thousand books to justify the expense. The emergence of cell phone novels in Japan allowed readers to subscribe and download chapters on flip phones, showcasing a unique form of digital literature consumption.

Clay tablets! Printing presses! Old timey audio books! Speed reading strategies! Attention spans! Dyslexia history! Literacy campaigns! Dr. Adrian Johns is an historian, professor, and author of the book “The Science of Reading” and we have a nice mellow chat about when humans started to “read,” what that means, being Hooked on Phonics, Dick, Jane, character languages, audiobooks, e-readers, school segregation, literacy rates, and how long we can focus at a time. He literally wrote the book on it.

Visit Dr. Adrian Johns’ faculty bio at University of Chicago

Shop Dr. Johns’ books including The Science of Reading: Information, Media, and Mind in Modern America (2023) and The Nature of the Book: Print and Knowledge in the Making (1998)

A donation went to 826LA.org and Glioblastoma Research Organization