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Originally Posted by Xtremegene
I'm sure when paper was first introduced many, many, moons ago, it wasn't exactly the cheapest thing around as it probably wasn't mass produced like it is now. I'd like to see him compare the cost of an 'original' paper book, adjusted for inflation, and see if he still complains about the Reader in the historical context of things.  |
Actually the whole point about paper is that it revolutionised book production precisely because it
was cheap to make - you could make it in bulk, cheaply, out of plentiful plant material. Previously - at least in Europe - books were written on parchment or vellum, made from calf skins, each sheet of which had to be laboriously stretched out and scraped to the necessary thinness - a very, very time consuming and expensive process.
The "technology" of paper making was brought to Europe (probably from India, like so much else) in the 13th century by the Moors in Islamic Spain and spread from there into Italy. It's probably no coincidence that the cultural flowering of the renaissance kicked off not long afterwards.