Printing nowadays

P rinting 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.

D irectory 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

Home task

1. Writing task. Johannes Gutenberg is nearly the most important person in the printing history. His invention of mechanical movable type printing started the Printing Revolution and is widely regarded as the most important event of the modern period. Your task is to write him a letter about modern printing techniques, their peculiarities and his contribution to the printing industry. You can use the Internet resources to find the information about him.

2. Work in groups of two or three. Prepare an oral presentation about Printing press of 1811. Your presentations should not be too long. Do not exceed 3-minutes’ limit.

3. Revise all the materials from Unit 5 and Unit 6, learn new vocabulary, get ready for a test at the next class.

MODULE 3

UNIT 6. HISTORY OF PRINTING

WORKBOOK

Task 1. Read the text about the e-Books. Fill in the gaps in the passage that follows with derivatives of the words in capitals.

Dawn of the e-Book

The electronic book or e-book (also spelt ebook and eBook) began to emerge in its own right in the last years of the twentieth century, existing as a virtual entity stored in a 1) __________ file. Like many new technologies it suffered from technical troubles, 2) __________ or inappropriate marketing, commercial rivalries that slowed its progress, and initial public scepticism or 3) ____________. Gradually however the electronic book became capable of being easily read from a wide variety of devices, and its vast potential began to be more widely understood. It became clear that the e-book would represent the next leap forward in the onward march of the book. While it can simply represent traditional texts and thus replicate all 4) ___________ literature, the e-book can also become a layered and 5) ______________ multimedia experience. Indeed, the book of the future could even be spontaneously assembled from multiple sources for specific educational or entertainment purposes, by a single reader or group. The e-book therefore holds the promise of adding an unprecedented degree of 6) _____________ to the concept of the book. The book is one of humanity's most enduring cultural artefacts and treasures. As it evolves, the greatest threat to its future is therefore not from technical advances but from the danger of new generations losing the inclination to read. The ability to read and write is our greatest tool in education, and, apart from the family, the single most important medium existing for the 7) _______________ of ideas and the 8) _________________ of an evolving human culture. Why should we continue to value, preserve, read and write books? Simply because of what they represent. Books record our past and progress; contain our experiments, fancies, knowledge, and 9) ____________ wisdom; proclaim our fears and ideas; and champion our ideals, dreams, and hopes for the future. More than any other medium, books carry the heart and soul of our civilisation forward, and keep it 10) ____________. Long live the book!

DIGIT EFFECT DIFFER EXIST INTERACT FLEXIBLE TRANSMIT CONTINUE ACCUMULATE ACCESS

Task 2. In some sentences given below unnecessary words appear. Find these words.

1. In 1953, the first high-speed printer was developed opened by Remington-Rand for use on the Univac computer.

2. In 1938, Chester Carlson invented a dry printing process called named electrophotography commonly called a Xerox, the foundation technology for laser printers to come.

3. The original laser printer called EARS was developed at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Centre beginning in 1969 and completed end in November, 1971.

4. According to IBM, "the very first IBM 3800 was installed in the central accounting office there at F. W. Woolworth’s North American data centre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1976."

5. The IBM 3800 Printing System was must the industry’s first high-speed, laser printer.

6. A laser printer that operated at speeds of more than 100 impressions-per-minute hour.

7. It was the first printer to combine world laser technology and electrophotography according to IBM.

8. In 1992, Hewlett-Packard released the popular LaserJet 4, the first 600 by 600 dots per inch resolution laser printer nowadays.