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. ( )

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. ( )