Obviously, we've discussed print and its evolution in almost every class this semester, so it piqued my interest.
This advertisement is for a company called ISSUU which provides designers and authors a digital platform in which to publish all kinds of works - magazines, catalogs, brochures, ads, and newspapers. According to the company, over 20,000 publications are uploaded to its site daily:
"Once published on ISSUU, publications become instantly available to active readers in every corner of the globe who use our site and mobile apps to discover and engage in whatever interests them."
This concept somehow reminds me of the Roman system of distributing information and of Cicero's Web. As we read in Standage's Writing on the Wall, thousands of years ago, like-minded people interested in similar subjects used their tabellari to keep each other updated on important current events. This eventually evolved into their acta, a people-led newspaper of sorts. Today, we know that in a sense, print is "dying" and newspapers are on the outs. ISSUU provides people the ability to not only read various types of publications, but it also creates a type of social network where people of similar interests can read and share what others have written.
ISSUU is by no means the first or only site to offer these features to the masses. Scribd, Calameo, and Zynne are just a few other examples of web-based publishing platforms anyone can use to bring their publications to people all over the world. These electronic publishers are yet another sign of changing times. Print methods of old may be falling to the wayside, but society's basic need to stay connected and share information will never cease.
