IL CIMENTO DEL LIBRO ELETTRONICO: L'EDITORIA DALLA 'DEMOCRATIZZAZIONE' DEL COMPUTER AL WEB 2.0.

The subject of this study is the revolution triggered by the absorption of computing logic and tools within the so-called publishing industry, which began in Italy, as well as in the rest of the Western world, during the 1970s. The focus is particularly on the informatization of the "book", meaning its deconstruction and reconstruction within electronic spaces, as well as the reconfiguration of its formats and technologies. This phenomenon is closely linked to issues concerning the redefinition of classical models of writing, reading, and textuality, which have emerged alongside the growing literary function of the computer. While existing studies tend to confine electronic publishing to an epilogue or appendix of the history of the book, this research proposes a new periodization. Through the identification and detailed analysis of the three main phases of the informatic-editorial revolution—the era of electronic publishing (1978-1990), the era of multimedia publishing (1991-1999), and the era of digital publishing (2000-2020)—this study assigns a deeper and more complex chronological scope and a greater significance to the process compared to conventional reconstructions. In Italy, as well as in other parts of the world, particularly in Anglo-Saxon contexts, since the late 1970s, there has been a progression: from the discovery of telematics and the computer as a cultural medium capable of producing and manipulating creative content through software, interfaces, and screens (electronic publishing); to the introduction of new formats and media that allow for the integration of text, images, and sounds, radically transforming the reading experience (multimedia publishing); and finally, to the migration of the publishing industry online, along with its reinterpretation and recontextualization in terms of convergence and transmediality, which completes and consolidates the dematerialization and "softwarization" of the book (digital publishing). This outlines a complex path, beginning with the emergence of IT innovations related to the storage, organization, processing, and transportation of information. It passes through a transitional phase dominated by CD-ROMs and reaches the comprehensive digitization of the sector, describing the development of the book, both as an object and as a generator of practices, from the moment in which computing technologies began to consolidate and penetrate the productive and cultural fabric of society, ultimately revolutionizing it. Therefore, this research aims to achieve a deeper understanding of the historical, technological, and cultural dynamics that have led to the birth, evolution, and affirmation of the electronic book. It embraces a broad and interdisciplinary field of inquiry that spans the history of publishing, the history of communication, cultural media history, and the history of the circulation and transmission of knowledge.