The Digital Revolution

From 1968 computers became involved in printing. In 1983 the offset plate progressed to a format involving the laser-beam transference of stored 1) ______________ information. Gradually, printing world-wide became a digital and 2) ___________ process, and 3) ____________ printing began to disappear. This change led to the irony that a series of advanced digital electronic processes now produced the traditional analogue 4) ___________ book. It was only a matter of time before the logical conclusion would be drawn – that books could exist in a purely 5) ________ form.

Moreover, such books could incorporate new possibilities undreamed of in the printed codex book. For example, they could be instantly6) ___________, be searchable electronically, include sounds & video and even a dictionary, and interact directly with the new Internet, and therefore contain instant links to further information.

The advent of digital book files also meant that 7) __________ physical books could now be printed individually, as required, from a stored computer file (Print on Demand, or POD), rather than in the traditional large print runs. This meant that "out of print" books could now be made available again within hours, and indeed that the whole concept of "out of print" titles could be abolished over time. As well, it now became financially 8) ___________ to print less popular books in limited numbers where before they were 9) ___________ to print at all.

So rather than immediately displacing the 10) ________________ codex, the advent of the digital book meant that the physical book could now flourish as never before. At the same time this change prepared the ground for a decisive future shift towards electronic reading (remember for example that clay tablets survived into the era of papyrus rolls for around five hundred years).

Task 3. Imagine that time travelling is possible. You decide to travel to 15^th century and met a man who is very interested in printing. Your task is to tell him about modern printing techniques, their peculiarities and modern stage of printing and publishing in general. Your story should be told in chronological order.