[A2k] print on demand books

[Guédon Jean-Claude]

This is a somewhat funny idea, obviously aimed at papyrophilic individuals (to use Stevan Harnad's terminology of old).

There is an interesting consequence to this offer: Wikipedia evolves all the time. Each book will be like a snapshot slice of the process.

I say process because Wikipedia, in my opinion, is not a body of texts conceived as objects; it is a body of texts conceived as an attractor of people that keep on making it evolve. It is a hugely accelerated process of creation that was first inaugurated by scientific publishing in the 17th century. This, to me, appears to be the truly revolutionary dimension of Wikipedia. It simply materializes - a most problematic materialization, by the way, since it relies on electronic bits - the conversations of thousands of communities.

Best,

Jean-Claude


-------- Message d'origine--------
De: a2k-admin@lists.essential.org de la part de Manon Ress
Date: mer. 12/07/2006 17:59
À: a2k discuss list
Objet : [A2k] print on demand books

Thanks to Achal for interesting pointer.
Check it out:

http://pediapress.com/

Individual books based on Wikipedia articles!

PediaPress is a service that enables you to compile and order a book
with contents you pick from over a million Wikipedia articles. You
will then receive a unique, bound book with high quality, selected
articles!

The goal of Wikipedia is to give every single person free access to
the sum of all human knowledge.
The goal of PediaPress is to make this knowledge available in a
printed form and promote the offline usage of Wikipedia articles.
FAST
build and order your encyclopedia in minutes

     * gather relevant articles in minutes
     * preview and order your books with only a couple clicks
     * your personal encyclopedia is printed and shipped within 2 days

EASY
compiling a book with PediaPress is simple

     * PediaPress lets you quickly browse and search for Wikipedia
articles
     * PediaPress suggests further articles based on what's in your book

INDIVIDUAL
unique, individual encyclopedias for a great price

     * you only pay for information you want in your book
     * let others participate in your editorial talent by publishing
your book


************************************************
Manon Anne Ress
manon.ress@cptech.org,
www.cptech.org

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