Awhile back I saw a post by Jeff Jarvis over on Google+ announcing the release of his Kindle single “Gutenberg The Geek” (Amazon affiliate link). Unless you’re a new reader of this blog, you’ve probably figured out that my company ColorMetrix develops color verification software for the printing industry. My undergraduate degree is in printing management, so I’m a bit of a printing geek. A book about Gutenberg, without whom I would not have an industry to work in, is an automatic buy for me; especially when it’s a Kindle single for only 99 cents!
About the book
“Gutenberg The Geek” is a quick read. On a recent working vacation, I polished it off in two segments of a flight from Milwaukee to Miami. But don’t let the length of this book fool you. It’s chock full of great insights for any entrepreneur. I’ve studied and known about Gutenberg for more than 30 years. I know who this man is and yet I never really thought of him as an entrepreneur. To me, he’s always been the inventor of moveable type and the printing process.
Notice how I didn’t say he invented the printing press – even though he did – because there is so much more to printing than the press. He figured out the right combination of paper, ink, impression pressure and dozens of other variables. Isn’t that what we do as entrepreneurs? We figure out what needs figuring out. We never quit, never give in. And yes sometimes we get screwed over by the financiers of our operations. That’s what ultimately did Gutenberg in. The financier called his note and ended up owning what he had created.
Some quotes from the book
“As with good software, functionality comes first; beauty is a feature.”
While attending RIT I was able to view some pages from the Gutenberg Bible at the Cary Library. Hundreds of years later, they are still things of beauty, but that is only because the quality of the printing is second to none. These books were made to last and many of them have for hundreds and hundreds of years. How about what you are building? Will it survive you?
Here, too, was a lesson about the nature of technology: “Printing, like social networking, can be used by good actors and bad. In that sense, technology takes no sides.”
Can we get an “Amen?!” It’s not about the tools; it’s about who and how they are using them. When you read Mr. Jarvis’ single you will find it interesting to see what Gutenberg printed before he got around to the Bible.
…we should see Gutenberg and the early printers as more than craftsman or entrepreneurs. Their workshops “served as gathering places for scholars, artists and literati; as the sanctuaries for foreign translators, emigres and refugees; as institutions of advanced learning, and focal points for every kind of cultural and intellectual interchange.”
That quote kind of sounds like “change the world” for the better to me. It reminds me of what my good friends at Translator do with their lab hours each week.
“How much longer will there be room for physical impressing ink onto paper? Perhaps by the 600th anniversary of Gutenberg’s press in 2040 or thereabouts, presses will be relegated to museums. There’s no shame in that.”
I agree there is no shame in a 600-year run of a piece of technology. Sure, it saddens me to know I could live to see the demise of the industry I’ve called home. The reality is I’ve known that for 10 years or more and have been preparing and adapting to confront that eventuality.
“Gutenberg The Geek” is a great quick read. It’s less biographical and more a book that makes you think about how to approach your own entrepreneurial pursuits.
[…] This review first appeared on JimRaffel.com on March 9, 2012. It has been repurposed for this blog. To read the original, please click here. […]