The eBook is 40 (1971-2011) Part 1

The eBook is 40 (1971-2011).

by Marie Lebert.

INTRODUCTION

The ebook (electronic book) is 40 years old. After humble beginnings, it is firmly standing alongside the print book. We now read ebooks on our computers, PDAs, mobile phones, smartphones and ebook readers.

"The ebook is 40" is a chronology in 44 episodes from 1971 to 2011.

Unless specified otherwise, the quotes are excerpts from the NEF Interviews , University of Toronto, and the interviews that followed as a complement. Many thanks to all those who are quoted here, for their time and their friendship.

Part of this book was published as a series of articles in Project Gutenberg News in July 2011, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Project Gutenberg on 4 July 2011.

This book marks the very end of a 12-year research project, with 100 partic.i.p.ants worldwide.

Marie Lebert is a researcher and journalist specializing in technology for books and languages. Her books are freely available in Project Gutenberg , in various formats for any electronic device.

Copyright 2011 Marie Lebert

1971 > PROJECT GUTENBERG, A VISIONARY PROJECT

[Summary]

The first ebook was available in July 1971, as eText #1 of Project Gutenberg, a visionary project launched by Michael Hart to create free electronic versions of literary works and disseminate them worldwide.

In the 16th century, Gutenberg allowed anyone to have print books for a small cost. In the 21st century, Project Gutenberg would allow anyone to have a digital library at no cost. First considered as totally unrealistic, the project got its first boost with the invention of the web in 1990, which made it easier to distribute ebooks and recruit volunteers, and its second boost with the creation of Distributed Proofreaders in 2000, to share the proofreading of ebooks between thousands of volunteers. In 2011, for its 40th anniversary, Project Gutenberg offered 36,000 ebooks being downloaded by the tens of thousands every day, with websites in the United States, in Australia, in Europe, and in Canada, and 40 mirror websites worldwide.

The first ebook was available in July 1971, as eText #1 of Project Gutenberg, a visionary project launched by Michael Hart to create free electronic versions of literary works and disseminate them worldwide.

In the 16th century, Gutenberg allowed anyone to have print books for a small cost. In the 21st century, Project Gutenberg would allow anyone to have a digital library at no cost.

# Beginning

As recalled by Michael Hart in January 2009 in an email interview: "On July 4, 1971, while still a freshman at the University of Illinois (UI), I decided to spend the night at the Xerox Sigma V mainframe at the UI Materials Research Lab, rather than walk miles home in the summer heat, only to come back hours later to start another day of school. I stopped on the way to do a little grocery shopping to get through the night, and day, and along with the groceries they put in the faux parchment copy of 'The U.S. Declaration of Independence' that became quite literally the cornerstone of Project Gutenberg. That night, as it turned out, I received my first computer account -- I had been hitchhiking on my brother's best friend's name, who ran the computer on the night shift. When I got a first look at the huge amount of computer money I was given, I decided I had to do something extremely worthwhile to do justice to what I had been given. (...) As I emptied out groceries, the faux parchment 'Declaration of Independence'

fell out, and the light literally went on over my head like in the cartoons and comics... I knew what the future of computing, and the internet, was going to be... 'The Information Age.' The rest, as they say, is history."

Michael typed in the "U.S. Declaration of Independence" in upper case, because there was no lower case yet. He mentioned where the 5 K file was stored to the 100 users of the embryonic internet of the time, though without a hypertext link, because the web was still 20 years ahead. It was downloaded by six users.

Michael decided to search the books from public domain available in libraries, digitize these books and store their electronic versions.

Project Gutenberg's mission would be the following: to put at everyone's disposal, in electronic versions, as many literary works from public domain as possible for free.

First considered as totally unrealistic, the project got its first boost with the invention of the web in 1990, which made it easier to distribute ebooks and recruit volunteers.

Years later, in August 1998, Michael wrote in an email interview: "We consider etext to be a new medium, with no real relationship to paper, other than presenting the same material, but I don't see how paper can possibly compete once people each find their own comfortable way to etexts, especially in schools."

A book became a continuous text file instead of a set of pages, using the low set of ASCII, called Plain Vanilla ASCII, with caps for the terms in italic, bold or underlined of the print version, for it to be read on any hardware and software. As a text file, a book would be easily copied, indexed, searched, a.n.a.lyzed and compared with other books.

# Distributed Proofreaders

The project got its second boost with the creation of Distributed Proofreaders in 2000, to share the proofreading of ebooks between thousands of volunteers.

Distributed Proofreaders was launched in October 2000 by Charles Franks to support the digitization of public domain books and a.s.sist Project Gutenberg in its efforts to offer free electronic versions of literary works. The books are scanned from a print version and converted into a text version by using OCR, 99% reliable at the best, which leaves a few errors per page. Volunteers choose one of the books available on the site and proofread a given page. It is recommended they do a page per day if possible.

Distributed Proofreaders became the main source of Project Gutenberg's ebooks, and an official Project Gutenberg site in 2002. Distributed Proofreaders became a separate legal ent.i.ty in May 2006 and continues to maintain a strong relationship with Project Gutenberg. 10,000 books were digitized, proofread, and "preserved for the world" in December 2006, and 20,000 ebooks in April 2011, as "unique t.i.tles [sent] to the bookshelves of Project Gutenberg, free to enjoy for everybody. (...) Distributed Proofreaders is a truly international community. People from over the world contribute." Distributed Proofreaders Europe (DP Europe) began production in early 2004. Distributed Proofreaders Canada (DP Canada) began production in December 2007.

# "Less is more"

Project Gutenberg keeps its administrative and financial structure to the bare minimum. Its motto fits into three words: "Less is more." The minimal rules give much s.p.a.ce to volunteers and to new ideas. The goal is to ensure its independence from loans and other funding and from ephemeral cultural priorities, to avoid pressure from politicians and others. The aim is also to ensure respect for the volunteers, who can be confident their work will be used not just for a few years but for generations. Volunteers can network through mailing lists, weekly or monthly newsletters, discussion lists, forums, wikis and blogs.

In July 2011, for its 40th anniversary, Project Gutenberg offered 36,000 ebooks being downloaded by the tens of thousands every day, with websites in the United States, in Australia, in Europe, and in Canada, and 40 mirror websites worldwide.

40 years after the beginning of Project Gutenberg, Michael Hart describes himself as a workaholic who has devoted his entire life to his project. He considers himself a pragmatic and farsighted altruist.

For years he was regarded as a nut but now he is respected.

Michael has often stated in his writings that, after Gutenberg allowing anyone to have its own print books for a small cost, Project Gutenberg would allow anyone to have a library at no cost stored in a pocket device. The collection of Project Gutenberg has the size of a local public library, but this time available on the web to be downloaded for free. The project's goal is to change the world through freely available ebooks that can be used and copied endlessly, and reading and culture for everyone at minimal cost.

1974 > THE INTERNET "TOOK OFF"

[Summary]

The internet "took off" in 1974 with the creation of TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) by Vinton Cerf and Bob Kahn, fifteen years before the invention of the web. The internet expanded as a network linking U.S. governmental agencies, universities and research centers, before spreading worldwide in 1983. The internet got its first boost in 1990 with the invention of the web by Tim Berners-Lee, and its second boost in 1993 with the release of Mosaic, the first browser for the general public. The Internet Society (ISOC) was founded in 1992 by Vinton Cerf to promote the development of the internet as a medium that was becoming part of our lives. There were 100 million internet users in December 1997, with one million new users per month, and 300 million users in December 2000.

The internet "took off" in 1974 with the creation of TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) by Vinton Cerf and Bob Kahn, fifteen years before the invention of the web.

# A new medium

The internet expanded as a network linking U.S. governmental agencies, universities and research centers, before spreading worldwide in 1983.

The internet got its first boost in 1990 with the invention of the web by Tim Berners-Lee, and its second boost in 1993 with the release of Mosaic, the first browser for the general public.

Vinton Cerf founded the Internet Society (ISOC) in 1992 to promote the development of the internet as a medium that was becoming part of our lives. When interviewed by the French daily Liberation on 16 January 1998, he explained that the internet was doing two things. Like books, it could acc.u.mulate knowledge. But, more importantly, it presented knowledge in a way that connected it with other information whereas, in a book, information stayed isolated.

Because the web was easy to use with hyperlinks going from one doc.u.ment to the next, the internet could now be used by anyone, and not only by computer literate users. There were 100 million internet users in December 1997, with one million new users per month, and 300 million users in December 2000.

# A worldwide expansion

North America was leading the way in computer science and communication technology, with significant funding and cheap computers compared to Europe. A connection to the internet was much cheaper too.

In some European countries, internet users needed to surf the web at night (including the author of these lines), when phone rates by the minute were cheaper, to cut their expenses. In late 1998 and early 1999, some users in France, Germany and Italy launched a movement to boycott the internet one day per week, as a way to force internet providers and phone companies to set up a special monthly rate. This action paid off, and providers began to offer "internet rates".