Pulp, pilcrows and interrobangs

摘要

"The paperless society is about as plausible as the paperless bathroom" wrote Jesse Shera, a pioneer of information technology in libraries, in 1982. Nicholas Basbanes approvingly quotes this remark near the end of On Paper. His edifying, if bloated, history of paper - from manuscripts, books, newspapers, passports and currency notes to stationery and origami, packaging, cigarettes and toilet paper - has also convinced me that, despite digitization, Shera was right. The stuff is convenient, portable and cheap: On Paper has been published, after all, as both an e-book and a deckle-edged hardback.