3 ms·

> would you insist that your entire back catalogue be reissued in the new style That's an interesting point! But I think that many publishers might do that IF

> would you insist that your entire back catalogue be reissued in the new style That's an interesting point! But I think that many publishers might do that IF it were feasible, which it isn't in print. But it is feasible on the web—feasible, if annoying in those days—and that's why they did it. It's not that the web is sui generis (although...) but rather that it is distinct from print in a few ways, and editability is one of them.

cxr 3y ago
> I think that many publishers might do that IF it were feasible, which it isn't in print. But it is feasible on the web The feasibility for print and the Web are approximately equivalent. > [The Web] is distinct from print in a few ways, and editability is one of them Print doesn't lack editability. Professional editors—people paid to edit things—exist, even. That's what they do: edit—which is something they can do precisely because written material that makes its way to print is editable. I realize at this point you're probably thinking, "Hey, that's not the type of editability I had in mind. You're equivocating. When I said editability, what I was referring to—and what is widely understood, so I'm not sure why we're having trouble here—is [...]"* The Web's editability is a fiction. It's imagined, not real.** If you install a document at example.com/resume in 2022, and then change your server to make sure example.com/resume says something different now in 2023, you haven't "edited" anything.*** What you did is make a new thing. It kind of looks like the first, but it's a new thing. And then you put the new thing up, but you're calling them the same thing. You can also do that in print—you can do a print run of a first edition work, make a bunch of corrections to the material and then call the second print run "Memoirs (1st ed)" rather than "2nd". The difference between print and the Web? People just don't do that. That's it. * I'd like you to think about how you'd actually complete the sentence. Maybe you don't have to think about it—I'm certain that you know exactly what you meant. Then again, even feeling like you know it doesn't mean you actually have words for it (cf. <http://www.paulgraham.com/words.html http://www.paulgraham.com/words.html>). ** at least to the extent that it differs from the kind of editing that we mean when we're talking about written material for print *** again: at least not to the extent that there is a type of "editing" going on here that is precluded by print
- jdougan 3y ago
  You are a surprising percentage of the way to the Xanadu model.
  - cxr 3y ago
    Nope.

cxr 3y ago

> I think that many publishers might do that IF it were feasible, which it isn't in print. But it is feasible on the web The feasibility for print and the Web are approximately equivalent. > [The Web] is distinct from print in a few ways, and editability is one of them Print doesn't lack editability. Professional editors—people paid to edit things—exist, even. That's what they do: edit—which is something they can do precisely because written material that makes its way to print is editable. I realize at this point you're probably thinking, "Hey, that's not the type of editability I had in mind. You're equivocating. When I said editability, what I was referring to—and what is widely understood, so I'm not sure why we're having trouble here—is [...]"* The Web's editability is a fiction. It's imagined, not real.** If you install a document at example.com/resume in 2022, and then change your server to make sure example.com/resume says something different now in 2023, you haven't "edited" anything.*** What you did is make a new thing. It kind of looks like the first, but it's a new thing. And then you put the new thing up, but you're calling them the same thing. You can also do that in print—you can do a print run of a first edition work, make a bunch of corrections to the material and then call the second print run "Memoirs (1st ed)" rather than "2nd". The difference between print and the Web? People just don't do that. That's it. * I'd like you to think about how you'd actually complete the sentence. Maybe you don't have to think about it—I'm certain that you know exactly what you meant. Then again, even feeling like you know it doesn't mean you actually have words for it (cf. <http://www.paulgraham.com/words.html http://www.paulgraham.com/words.html>). ** at least to the extent that it differs from the kind of editing that we mean when we're talking about written material for print *** again: at least not to the extent that there is a type of "editing" going on here that is precluded by print

jdougan 3y ago
You are a surprising percentage of the way to the Xanadu model.
- cxr 3y ago
  Nope.