And yet this image of publishing, o

And yet this image of publishing, of gentlemanly, book-lined offices, stuffiness and tweediness, a leisurely pace, a backward looking and dilettante air is, while being grounded in truth, also hopelessly wrong. Indeed publishing has never been a backwards looking industry. It has a long tradition to be sure, but one of radical innovation, powerfully continued today. Publishers have long been on the frontlines of change. They pioneered the first industrial technology, the printing press, the crucible of standardized mass production that defines the modern condition. With this they also pioneered industrial workflows, the complex division of labour in skilled and semi-skilled trades working in tandem around machines and intricate supply chains and dependencies. Concomitantly it was at printing houses that we see some of the earliest examples of organized labour and trades unions. Publishers drove forward the creation of intellectual property, the vital ingredient of the knowledge economy that predominates today. They adopted steam early and repeatedly revolutionized retail with everything from shops that were open to browse or Christmas presents that became essential ingredients of the festive season.