What particularly struck me in the readings and the documentary were the discussions of how the printing press is considered to be an agent of change. Following Gutenberg’s invention, the creation and dispersion of the printing press led to the beginning of mass communication and changed the structure of society. The mass production of books led to a democratization of knowledge, and the flood of printed materials established an ever expanding reading public as well as changed the way that people read. In the current digital age, this democratization has expanded exponentially. As a reader, I often find the sheer amount of available content overwhelming. This mass quantity has an effect on how closely we read texts. I personally tend to skim many texts because I feel pressured to read as much as possible. When looking for material on any particular subject, it can make it difficult to determine where to focus your search. Too much choice can be paralyzing. 

Another aspect discussed in the texts and which I have not given much thought to was the author’s role in the process of publishing. As mentioned by Abbott & Williams, in both the handpress as well as machine-press period textual variations were common and in many cases out of the authors’ control. New technologies offer authors control over the way their work is produced, how it appears and who sees it. For example, a freelance journalist could submit an article to a newspaper, have it rejected, and then choose to publish it in a blog, as a twitter post or through other forms of social media. Additionally, these various formats shape the way we find and consume texts. That same article might find audiences in these alternative formats which might not have read it in the original source in which the author intended it to be published.