Monday, February 4, 2013

Gutenberg Reflections


 A statue in Strasbourg commemorates Gutenberg, credited with inventing printing with movable type there in 1440.

So you would expect that by 2013 printing text would hold few secrets.

But an otherwise-excellent book I am reading fails the most basic book test - you can't read it.


Or at least, to read it you need to keep changing the inclination of the pages, or moving your head.

They got the bit about 'black ink on white paper' right, but then 'improved' that by making the ink nice & shiny.
So in reflected light, the text disappears.

http://www.victorianweb.org/sculpture/french/7.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Gutenberg

Parting thot: "Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien." - Voltaire