Libros traditional e libros electronic

(Languages of this post: Interlingua, English)

Secundo le traditiones classic del civilisation europee, documentos scribite--specialmente documentos assatis grande--debe haber lor proprie voce e parlar directemente a lor lectores como un professor universitari in un conferentia. E un libro imprimite in nostre economias contemporanee anque debe parlar sur themas significante a gruppos de lectores ben definite e economicamente viabile.

A vices, nove autores essaya a formar nove gruppos de lectores ben definite durante que illes produce obras sur themas nove o sur nove gruppos de themas assatis unificate. Forgiar nove gruppos de lectores de iste maniera es multo difficile e require multe talento. E le effortios de multe autores pro establir tal gruppos de lectores, infelicemente, sovente non ha multe successo.

Il anque es necesse communicar de un maniera consistente con un nove gruppo de lectores. Nulle editor acciperea un libro que combinava duo themas completemente differente, pro exemplo le historia europee e le biologia marin del Oceano Pacific o le folklore del aborigines de Australia e le characteristicas structural del galaxias observate per astronomos usque nunc. On dicerea que tal libros non ha le coherentia necesse pro publication in le forma de un sol libro e que illos exige al minus duo libros multo differente.

Iste demanda de unitate e homogeneitate es assatis recente. Durante le epocha medieval, on sovente combinava textos in un sol codice, al qual on poterea adder textos completemente differente secundo le disponibilitate del spatio physic in le libro mesme.

Un tal practica esseva completemente natural in ille epocha proque le papiro o le pergamena esseva troppo car pro permitter le separation de themas plus stricte, que es possibile in nostre epocha de imprimeria industrialisate in le qual le pretio de libros es le equivalente economic de, que nos dice, un litro de lacte.

Ma textos electronic, in lor essentia, non es artifactos physic. Il es possibile, naturalmente, colliger e imprimer un gruppo de illos e assemblar los omnes a in un libro physic assatis simile al libros traditional producite secundo le methodos de production industrial per nostre casas editorial. Ma con le Rete le essentia de nostre libros ha devenite retes de symbolos electronic immagasinate in multe partes del mundo.

E ben que on pote publicar libros traditional in editiones nove, documentos electronic, del altere parte, existe in multiple versiones, alicunes ex illos preliminar, alteres ex illos plus raffinate in lor redaction. In plus, le redaction electronic es multo facile, e illo mesmo pote esser quasi instantanee. Iste characteristica incoragia nove combinationes de documentos e anque ha provocate conflictos de copyright.

Leges de copyright es le artifacto del production industrialisate de documentos imprimite. Ante le invention del imprimeria in le occidente, traditionalmente attribuite a Gutenberg, le parola scribite esseva troppo rar pro devenir un producto commercial como le textiles e le machinas producite durante le prime parte del revolution industrial.

Iste ephemeralisation del parola scribite ha producite publicationes como Wikipedia, redigite per grandissime gruppos voluntarios a diverse niveles de instruction qui produce textos pro satisfacer le necessitates de lectores popular e lectores docte. E le regula de unitate applicate a libros traditional non pote applicar se a libros electronic, cuje existentia pote esser in gruppos de CDs o in diverse formatos in gruppos de computatores in omne le partes del mundo.

Nostre linguas non es systemas completemente claudite secundo le conceptiones de grammaticos traditional. Illos es plastic e sempre cambia, a vices assatis lentemente, a vices plus rapidemente, secundo le exigentias de nove dominios de discurso. Le informatica es un bon exemplo de un dominio de discurso que cambia rapidissemente. Su effectos sur le evolution de nostre linguas es multo obvie a omnes. Un informatico del decada inter 1960 e 1970, pro exemplo, non poterea comprender multo facilemente documentos informatic contemporanee.

Del mesme maniera, nostre nove formas de "libros" electronic anque es artifactos plastic, e le lectores de tal libros simultaneemente es lor proprie redactores. A vices iste nove tipo de lectura/redaction es solitari. Altere vices tal lectores e redactores publica lor compilationes pro le uso de alteres, como io ha facite in "Interlingua multilingue".

Le ephemeralisation de textos e libros cambia de un maniera fundamental le experientia de leger. Lectores de "Don Quijote", pro exemplo, lege le mesme texto ben establite, sia in le lingua original, sia in un traduction. Ma lectores de libros electronic non pote esser confidente de leger le mesme gruppo de textos con le mesme structura in le mesme presentation graphic. Illes pote esser confidente solmente de haber viagiate in le mesme rete de textos.

In le seculos dece nove e le prime medietate del seculo vinti, libros imprimite fixe permitteva le formation de gruppos de textos canonic. Un exemplo excellente es le textos del grecos e del romanos ancian, le quales dominava le curriculos de nostre scholas pro multe decadas post le Renascimento. Ma iste ideal de unitate cultural producite per un patrimonio de textos commun ha disapparite quasi completemente in le seculo vinti e un.

Multes critica le informatica pro promover le homogeneitate in nostre societate, de producer le uniformitate per le production robotic standardisate. Ma le production, lectura, e redaction de textos electronic ha producite un effecto completemente differente. Le invention de Gutenburg incoragiava fortemente le standardisation de textos imprimite, durante que le technologia electronic ha incoragiate le production de textos particular, individual, e mesmo eccentric.

Un libro electronic es un collection de textos fragmentari e provisional, un serie de unitates tan individual como le differente obras in anthologias de contos per autores individual o gruppos de autores. Iste fragmentation tamen non implica le disintegration. Le elementos de textos in le cyberspatio non es simplemente chaotic. Al contrario. Illos es in un stato continue de reorganisation. Illos forma patronos e constellations le quales, durante lor curso de creation e disintegration constante, produce le materias prime pro nove constellationes de textos. In altere parolas, illos es simile a stellas vetule que explode in supernovas e forni le nove materias prime pro nove generationes de stellas.

Un tal curso de evolution ha producite un nove concepto de unitate in nostre textos imprimite que pote supplementar o supplantar conceptiones traditional sur le necessitate de un unitate de voce o structura rhetoric, e le unitate e coherentia de gruppos de textos electronic se deriva del evolution perpetue de omne le elementos de lor structura general.

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Traditional and Electronic Books

According to the classical traditions of European civilization, written documents--especially rather large ones--should have their own voice and speak directly to their readers like a university professor giving a lecture. And a printed book in our contemporary economies should also speak about significant subjects to well defined and economically viable groups of readers.

At times new authors try to form new groups of well defined readers as they produce works on new subjects or rather unified groups of subjects. Forging new groups of readers in this way is very difficult and requires a lot of talent. And the efforts of many authors to establish new groups of readers, unfortunately, are often not very successful.

It is also necessary to communicate in a consistent way with a new group of readers. No publisher would accept a book that combined two completely different subject areas, for example European history and the marine biology of the Pacific Ocean or the folklore of the aborigines of Australia and the structual characteristics of the galaxies observed by astronomers up to now. It would be said that such books do not have the coherence needed for publication in the form of a single book and that they demand at least two very different books.

This demand for unity and homogeneity is rather recent. In the Middle Ages, different texts were often combined in a single codex, to which new texts could be added in accordance with the physical space available in the book itself.

Such a practice was completely natural at that time because paper or parchment was too expensive to allow for a stricter separation of subject areas, which is possible in our era of industrialized printing in which the price of books is the economic equivalent of, let's say, a liter of milk.

But electronic texts, in their essence, are not physical artifacts. It is possible, naturally, collect and print a group of them and assemble all of them into a traditional book rather similar to contemporary books produced according to the methods of industrial production by our publishing houses. But with the internet the essence of our books has become networks of electronic symbols stored in many parts of the world.

And though it is possible to publish traditional books in new editions, electronic documents, on the other hand, exist in multiple versions, some of them preliminary, others more refined in their editing. In addition, electronic editing is very easy, and it can even be almost instantaneous. This characteristic encourages new combinations of documents and has even provoked conflicts of copyright.

Copyright laws are the artifact of the industrialized production of printed documents. Before the invention of printing in the Occident, traditionally attributed to Gutenberg, the written word was too rare to become a commercial product like the textiles and machines produced during the first part of the industrial revolution.

This ephemeralization of the written word has produced publications like Wikipedia, edited by very large groups of volunteers at various educational levels who produce texts to satisfy the needs of both popular and learned readers. And the principle of unity applied to traditional books cannot be applied to electronic books, whose existence can be in groups of CDs or in various formats in groups of computers in all parts of the world.

Our languages are not completely closed systems according to the conceptions of traditional grammarians. They are plastic and are always changing, at times rather slowly, at other times more rapidly, according to the demands of new domains of discourse. Computer science is a good example of a domain of discourse that is changing very rapidly. Its effects on the evolution of our languages are very obvious to everyone. A computerist of the decade between 1960 and 1970, for example, could not understand very easily contemporary documents on computer science.

In the same way, our new forms of electronic "books" are also plastic artifacts, and the readers of such books are simultaneously their own editors. At times this new type of reading/editing is solitary. Other times such readers and editors publish their compilations for the use of others, the way I have done in "Interlingua multilingue."

The ephemeralization of texts and books is changing the experience of reading in a fundamental way. Readers of "Don Quixote," for example, read the same well-established text, whether in its original language or in a translation. But readers of electronic books cannot be confident of reading the same group of texts with the same structure in the same graphical presentation. They can be confident only of having traveled in the same network of texts.

In the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century, fixed printed books permitted the formation of groups of canonic texts. An excellent example is the texts of the ancient Greeks and Romans, which dominated the curricula of our schools for many decades after the Renaissance. But this ideal of cultural unity produced by a patrimony of common texts has disappeared almost completely in the twenty-first century.

Many criticize computers for promoting homogeneity in our society, of producing uniformity by standardized robotic production. But the production, reading and editing of electronic texts has produced a completely different effect. Gutenberg's invention strongly encouraged the standardization of printed texts, while electronic technology has encouraged the production of particular, individual, even eccentric texts.

An electronic book is a fragmentary and provisional collection of texts, a series of unities as individual as the different works in anthologies of short stores by individual authors or groups of them. This fragmentation, however, does not imply disintegration. The elements of texts in cyberspace are not simply chaotic. On the contrary. They are in a continual state of reorganization. They form patterns and constellations that during their course of creation and disintegration produce the raw materials for new constellations of texts. In other words, they are similar to old stars that explode in supernovas and furnish the new raw materials of new generations of stars.

Such a course of evolution has produced a new concept of unity in our printed texts that can supplement or supplant traditional conceptions about the need for a unity of voice or rhetorical structure, and the unity and coherence of groups of electronic texts are derived from the perpetual evolution of all the elements of their overall structure.