[mrandre]

In the part of the past where books were scrolls, almost nobody could read, and most of what was written was data. Interestingly, relatively soon after the arrival of paginated books, public reading becomes commonplace.

Scrolls are for scribes.

[cema]

  relatively soon after the arrival of paginated books, 
  public reading becomes commonplace.

Oh no, it was because of the alphabet changed everything. And because some nations required universal education (technically, first among boys).

Books (in the codex form, versus scrolls) were indeed very helpful in reading, the way dvd is an improvement over a cassette tape. It made navigation easier (reading in one case, listening in the other). So your example is indeed relevant to the point you are making, but not the way you made it. (IMHO.)

[carbon8]

The reasons the codex format supplanted the scroll format had everything to do with physical properties, specifically that codices use material more economically, are more compact, easier to handle and transport.

In fact, as far as reading is concerned, the primary advantage of the codex over the physical scroll was, conversely, also the main advantage of scrolling over pagination on the web: the ability to easily jump to any point in the text.