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Here’snthe good news: we have this great technology to give you all sorts ofnknowledge, stories, and entertainment—text and pictures—in anreally convenient and low-cost format. It’s cheap enough you don’tnhave to worry about using it in the bathtub or jacuzzi, yet you canneasily find stuff you’ve previously read, or tag specific info tonre-read later. It’s light enough to carry on a trip, and it won’tninterfere with an airplane’s electronics.
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nYou’venprobably already guessed that I’m not talking about the latestnadvances in e-readers, but the old technology of the paperback book!nI’m thinking that there will always be a place for the paperback,nbecause it is the easiest thing to read in some situations. n
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n(Somenpeople disagree. Best-selling author G. P. Taylor said that e-booksnwill bring about the death of paperbacks, but not of hardbacks. Maybenhe’s right!)
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nHappynbirthday to paperback books!
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nHownold is the paperback book? The first Penguin paperback books werenpublished on this date in 1935, in England, starting what some call anpaperback revolution. (These were not the first “softcover” booksnpublished, but they are considered the first paperback books “ofnsubstance” published. Before Penguin’s paperbacks, softcover booksnwere “poorly printed on cheap, yellowing paper with flimsy bindings,” and the printed content was second-rate at best.)
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nTherenwere many who thought the paperback would kill the publishingnindustry—how could anyone make money when each book sold so cheap?nThese first books were sold for just sixpence each! But the new,ninexpensive books were a sensation, and Penguin sold three millionnpaperbacks in its first year, in a country of just 38 million people!nn
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nAlsonon this date:
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nAnniversary of the invention of corn flakes
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nBirthday of the “Father of Television”
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