Printing nowadays

Printing is a process for reproducing text and images, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing.

The development of printing was preceded by the use of cylinder seals in Mesopotamia developed in 3500 B.C., and other related stamp seals. The earliest form of printing was woodblock printing, with existing examples from China dating to before 220 A.D. and Egypt to the fourth century. Later developments in printing include the movable type, first developed by Bi Sheng in China, and the printing press, a more efficient printing process for western languages with their more limited alphabets, developed by Johannes Gutenberg in the fifteenth century.

Newspaper publishing. Newspapers are regularly scheduled publications that present recent news, typically on a type of inexpensive paper called newsprint. Most newspapers are primarily sold to subscribers or are distributed as advertising-supported free newspapers.

Periodical publishing. Nominally, periodical publishing involves publications that appear in a new edition on a regular schedule. Newspapers and magazines are both periodicals, but within the industry, the periodical publishing is frequently considered a separate branch that includes magazines and even academic journals, but not newspapers.

Book publishing. Most books are published by a small number of very large book publishers, but thousands of smaller book publishers exist. Many small- and medium-sized book publishers specialize in a specific area. Additionally, thousands of authors have created their own publishing companies, and self-published their own works.

Directory publishing. Directory publishing is a specialized genre within the publishing industry. These publishers produce mailing lists, telephone books, and other types of directories. With the advent of the Internet, many of these directories are now online.

Academic publishing. Academic publishers are typically either book or periodical publishers that have specialized in academic subjects. Some, like university presses, are owned by scholarly institutions. Others are commercial businesses that focus on academic subjects.

(The text is borrowed and modified from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publishing: as of 27 December 2011)

Task 12. Read the quotation below and express your opinion as to whether you agree with the author or not (You have 5 minutes for this task).

The printing press is either the greatest blessing or the greatest curse of modern times, sometimes one forgets which it is.

E. F. Schumacher