IMPLICATIONS OF DIGITALIZATION FOR THE FUTURE OF THE BOOK

Text topic: Context in Arts and Media

Text author: Љубомир Маширевић

The aim of this paper is to indicate possible development of the book as a media in the contemporary and future digitized social context. The first part of the paper discusses development of the book as a media. The second part of the paper analyzes current cultural context of books and indicates book industry circumstances, their distribution and reading scope. The third part tries to indicate possible future development of the book. The aim of this paper is to confront comprehension of a book as a static media, to indicate the fact that it existed, in various forms, even before Gutenberg revolution and that it will continue to exist even after digital revolution. Historical perspective and different forms of book existence will enable us to understand its evolution into digital form as something that is necessary in contemporary social context as well as to comprehend that the printed form of the book is far from vanishing. The book has not always had the form we know today (printed on paper with hard covers) over which many already lament depreciating its future. On the contrary, it has been changing its form with the advance of technology and literacy thus evolving into advanced printed forms as well as e-form which we have today