Booknology: The eBook (1971-2010)

Produced by Al Haines
BOOKNOLOGY: THE EBOOK (1971-2010)
Updated version, November 2010
Copyright © 2010 Marie Lebert. All rights reserved.
—- Marie Lebert is a researcher and journalist specializing in technology for books and languages. She is the author of A Short History of eBooks (NEF, University of Toronto, 2009), The Internet and Languages (NEF, 2009) and Technology and Books for All (NEF, 2008). Her books are freely available in Project Gutenberg <www.gutenberg.org> and in ManyBooks.net <http://manybooks.net>, in various formats for any electronic device (computer, PDA, mobile phone, smartphone, and ebook reader). —-
From 1971 to 2010 > Booknology, an ebook timeline
July 1971 > Project Gutenberg, a visionary project
The first ebook was available in July 1971, as eText #1 of Project Gutenberg, a visionary project launched by Michael Hart to create electronic versions of literary works and disseminate them worldwide. In the 16th century, Gutenberg allowed anyone to have print books for a small cost. In the 21st century, Project Gutenberg would allow anyone to have a digital library at no cost. Project Gutenberg got its first boost with the invention of the web in 1990 and its second boost with the creation of Distributed Proofreaders in 2000, to help digitizing books from public domain. In 2010, Project Gutenberg offered more than 33,000 ebooks being downloaded by the tens of thousands every day, with websites in the United States, in Australia, in Europe, and in Canada.
1974 > The internet took off
When Project Gutenberg started in July 1971, the internet was just a glimmer, with a pre-internet set up in 1969. The internet took off in 1974 with the creation of the TCP/IP protocol by Vinton Cerf and Bob Kahn. It expanded as a network linking U.S. governmental agencies, universities and research centers. The internet got its first boost with the invention of the web by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990, and its second boost with the release of the first public browser Mosaic in 1993. The Internet Society (ISOC) was founded in 1992 by Vinton Cerf to promote the development of the internet as a medium that was quickly spreading worldwide to become part of our lives.