Ceacht Staire ó Sheanfhondúir - A History Lesson from an Old Fogey

Is dócha gur comhartha aoise é bheith ag taisteal siar ar bhóithre na smaointe ach níor mhiste a leithéid uaireanta. Ceapaim go léiríonn an grianghraf thuas an fhorbairt atá tagtha ar chúrsaí foilsitheoireachta trí chéile ó thosaigh Cois Life ag obair sa ghort seo (i 1995), mar is é atá agaibh thuas, a léitheoirí uaisle, ná cuid de na 'dioscaí boga' ar a gcuirtí na céadleaganacha de na leabhair luatha a d'fhoilsíomar.

Bhí ceannródaíocht ar siúl ag Cois Life nuair a chuamar i mbun foilsitheoireachta mar gur bhunaíomar an nós ón tús an eagarthóireachta a dhéanamh ar an scáileán sinn féin seachas é a dhéanamh ar pháipéar leis an gcóras marcála seanbhunaithe agus a thabhairt do rúnaí nó cúntóir éigin. I gcás údar áirithe bhíodh orthu clóscríobhaithe a fháil leis an leagan clóite a réiteach mar b'ionann an chóip a chuireadh na húdair ar fáil agus 'lámhscríbhinn' cheart - féach gur sin an téarma a thugtar i gcónaí ar an gcéad chóip de théacs leabhair a chuireann an t-údar ar fáil don fhoilsitheoir. Ar ndóigh tá go leor scéalta againn tar éis a bheith ag plé le húdair thar na blianta  - údar amháin a chuir an lámhscríbhinn ar fáil (roinnt céadta leathanach) agus gan oiread agus comhartha fada amháin marcáilte inti mar 'nár chreid' sé iontu! Is ea, a chairde, is dual do na Gaeil fulaingt ach is measa fós saol an fhoilsitheora Gaeilge!

Dála an scéil, tabhair faoi deara gur mhaígh an diosca go raibh "1.44 MB" nó "2 MB" spáis ar an diosca - nuair is ar éigean a rachadh grianghraf amháin a thógfaí ar ghuthán póca ar an diosca céanna sa lá atá inniu ann.

Píosa staire ceart atá sa diosca bog thuas mar is é atá ann ná leagan den chéad imleabhar de An Peann Coitianta a d'fhoilsigh COMHAR siar in 1991 nuair a bhí an bheirt againne (Caoilfhionn agus Seán) ag plé le cúrsaí leabhar ansin. Ní hamháin go mbíodh orainn dioscaí boga a úsáid ach bhíodh orainn cead a lorg cúpla uair a chloig a bheith againn anois agus arís 'ar an ríomhaire' (is ea, a dhaoine óga, saonta, ní bhíodh ríomhaire ach ag comhlachtaí an uair sin - ní bhídís ag an ngnáthdhuine ag baile). 

Ar an taobh eile de, Mar is eol dúinn, ní hionann daonlathú agus dul chun cinn i gcónaí ach an oiread. Samhlaím nach mise an t-aon duine atá bodhar ag bíogaíl an tslua, nó ar leasc leis aghaidh a thabhairt ar facebook nó nascadh le linkedin.  O Tempora, O Mores!  (agus is beag AR FAD a thuigfeadh é sin sa lá atá inniu ann anois go gcuimhním air! Ach is dócha gur chuige sin atá google ann ... )

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It's probably a sign of old age that one is inclined to wander down memory lane, but sometimes perhaps it's no harm. The photographs in this post remind us of how much has changed since Cois Life began publishing (in 1995), for they depict, gentle readers, 'floppy disks' - the medium on which authors used to supply the first copy of their work to us. Above are photos of some of the early works we published and one which we worked on when we were involved in publishing books for the magazine COMHAR. That last one An Peann Coitianta was published in 1991 and in those days we had to contend not alone with floppy disks but with having to book a few hours on 'the' computer. Younger readers of a nervous disposition may wish to avert their gaze as I impart the dread intelligence that in those days only a company might have a computer (if it were very 'go-ahead') - the idea that everybody would one day have a computer in their home seemed very far-fetched indeed.

From the start we were quite revolutionary in Cois Life in that we changed the traditional workflow and instead of marking up hard copy and handing the marked up copy (with all those old-fashioned squiggles - the examples below are from the Chicago Style Manual) we began the editing process on screen. Despite the fact that almost all first copies of a work ar now supplied by authors everywhere in electronic format the term 'manuscript' is still used for this first copy. 

Of course, we've had many interesting experiences with authors down the years including one who supplied several hundred pages of his work in an electronic version which was utterly devoid of fada-s, explaining in an aside that he "didn't believe in them"!

Note how the disks boasted of their capacity - "1.44 MB" or "2 MB" when nowadays that wouldn't even hold a single hi-res photo taken on a smartphone.

Looking at the 'progress' from the other end of the telescope, perhaps more democratic access to technology isn't always advisable. Somehow I suspect I'm not the only one deafened by twitterings (ok, 'tweets'), blue in the face with facebook and desperate to unchain himself from linkedin. O Tempora, O Mores! (and now that I think of it I am absolutely sure that only a tiny handful of people will understand THAT nowadays! But then, that's what google is for, I suppose... )