tfdl

The BBC has a wonderful program tracing history of Mr Gutenberg, his printing press, and of course his famous bible. Stephen Fry has produced a wonderful piece for the BBC (in six parts here on YouTube) that brings to life the invention that, as Mr Fry says, does more to define us as a civilization than anything since.

And the growth of the moveable-type technology rivaled even the growth of the Internets - in just a few decades after the first book was printed... as Fry says, "...from zero books to 50 million in twenty years..."

No small irony in the fact that this blog is based on software called MoveableType. Literally, there would be no Internet without the one thing we all take for granted in our world - the printed word.

Wonderful program.

Posted by Edd at 3:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oh, the media is already alerted. It seems that a columnist for the New York Sun gave her nine-year old boy a MetroCard, a subway map and twenty bucks and said I'll see you at home. This caused quite a kafuffle. Some even accused the mother of child abuse.

True, there were some who wrote to her to tell her about their first adventures alone in the city, and how important they were.  Most, though, and even some experts, seem to think it too dangerous.  This in spite of the data that shows New York to be safer now than even fifty years or so ago.

When did we become such a fearful culture? Oh yeah, when the media began to alert us... about every possible danger. Enough already.

Here is the link to the article.  Oh and the map is there too for your kids.

Posted by Edd at 4:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)