The Me-Book
Ebooks get a lot of attention, but there is another publishing world that exists in parallel with the commercial publishing world we see and know. It is the shadow world that evolved from the copier and later the digital printer — for the first time, individuals could make their own books.
As the first key operator for the first Xerox 914 in Brooklyn, N.Y., I saw how convenience engenders changes in behavior and creates new market opportunities. Before the copier as we know it, we used something called a Thermofax — which would drive you to drink just to make one copy. The plain paper copier made it easy to be a publisher. Over time, technology continued to make it even easier. The Canon LBP-CX in 1981 became the HP LaserJet and the Apple Laserwriter. The original Kodak Ektaprint could re-circulate original sheets and copy them in order and then bind them in the machine. The University of Vermont was producing customized course materials in the early 1980s using an Ektaprint.
Frank Romano is Professor Emeritus at RIT School of Media Sciences.