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What the article fails to recognize is the sheer difficulty and expense involved in acquiring information in those days. You not only needed lots of money; you
by kstenerud 10y ago
What the article fails to recognize is the sheer difficulty and expense involved in acquiring information in those days. You not only needed lots of money; you also needed status and political friends who could connect you through their networks to people who know things about your subject of interest. Even getting a peek into a book was an arduous affair, sometimes taking years. There's a reason why the gentry were so fond of collecting books.
So yes, anyone politically, socially, and economically powerful enough, with an ounce of curiosity, would have a list such as this. I do the same for anything I can't get within a month.
- vnglst 10y agoAnd remember that paper was extremely expensive for ordinary people back then. Using it for something silly as a todo list seems as wastefull as using a JavaScript framework for just a todo app. ;)
- LHopital 10y agoYour basic assumption is todo app is not as expensive as the paper in that era. In that era paper was expensive, in this era todo app is expensive which require a smart phone (or a computer or laptop) connected to the internet.
- Nomentatus 10y agoAnd a reason why I was so keen on collecting books in 1969, too. If you didn't buy it while it was in print, or the moment you spotted it in a used bookstore, you might never see it again in your lifetime. Now I'm going through and dumping a whole lot of those books, (or should be.)