The electronic edition of the Codex will be available
online at no charge (the site launched with 25 percent
of the manuscript available on July 24, 2008, with
more chapters to be made available in November
2008 and the remainder of the book by July 2009).
Other project outputs include a print facsimile, a
conference, an exhibition, and a popular book.
Clearly, we are seeing the beginnings of the future
of the book. There may be as many business models
to try and combine as there are possibilities for innovative
content. Devices and platforms may continue
to emerge, and disappear, at a dizzying rate. But ebooks
will be increasingly enhanced with extras, as
we’ve come to expect with DVD releases of movies,
and will be progressively more interactive. Many
more authors will explore collaborative models,
seeking input on their creative process, allowing
others to remix or reuse their work, and teaming up
with other authors or fans to create new content.
Links within and to other books and media will lead
us in new directions from the electronic page. And
electronic texts will be remixed and mashed up with
other digital media into works that may or may not
be called a book and that could not, at any rate, have
existed in prin