In 1444 Johannes Gutenberg,a German, invented the printing press.Before this books were written by dictation, meaning one man read the book while a group of individuals, mostly clergy write it freehand. This was a long and arduous process. Some books taking years to write out.Books were rare items used only by the clergy and the aristocracy. The wealthy would travel years to just read one book. The average person was illiterate and could neither read a book or afford one. The sharing of information was minimal in this age and science was non existent. This is reflected in the name of the age. The Dark ages. With the creation of the printing press came an explosion of information sharing.
This sharing had huge impacts on every part of society from art to math to religion. The Reformation lead by Martin Luther, was made possible by the translation and distribution of mass printed vernacular Bibles. It also sparked the enlightenment movement by educating the average person. This information sharing raised the intelligence of the population and brought on the wave of inventions and ideas throughout the next two hundred years.The numbers speak for themselves. By 1499, there is fifteen million books in twenty five hundred cities across Europe. Books were everywhere for everyone. This is very similar to the Internet revolution happening today. The overflow of information makes things more accessible every day. Smaller. Faster. Just like the printing press, the Internet is making information available to everyone,thereby empowering the individual. Why buy a book when you can download one?Free information with no printing press and no paper. The future looks good.
Imagine if you still had to write books free-hand. That would take forever. The printing press was a huge advance in technology. It saves us a lot of time and money. Downloading books online is also a huge advance.. I agree why would you buy a book and waste your money when you can download and read it online.
ReplyDeleteStacy, your argument is similar to the one made about the printed paper. There's nothing like sitting on the beach or in your favorite recliner while reading a good book. I love to read when I go to bed at night because it relaxes me and helps me forget the day. It's just not the same sitting in front of a computer.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how similar the story of the printing press is to the modern computer. As information is made more available to people, it seems to spark a creative gene in their minds and the easier to attain the information the more powerful they become. It also provides us an avenue to share our work, through literature, music or art, to persuade or inform the masses.
ReplyDeleteThe printing press was a big advancement in technology. Information was spread quickly this way. The internet has evolved a lot like the printing press. Tom is right though, there is nothing like sitting on the beach or in the park under a tree to read. I don't think many people would sit and read a book for hours before bed if they had to read it on the computer. You eyes tend to strain more reading off the computer than from reading a book. And how many of us like to curl up in bed and read a book, not only to ourselves, but to our children. I certainly do not want to sit at the computer before bed with my child to read a chapter book with them. Tucking your child in bed, sitting next to them while we read together, and getting them to relax is a great way to spend one on one time with your child. I'll take the printing press before the internet!
ReplyDeleteYou know members of the music industry are flipping out of the proliferation of file sharing and illegal music downloading? Well I wonder if monks were flipping out over the printing press because it basically put them out of a job. I mean I’m sure there were other ways they earned money but that was probably a large chuck of income that was cut out. I really like the idea of e-books and whatnot but format is no fun. I really don’t like having to read solely off a computer screen. I can’t wait to see how Amazon’s Kindle evolves and what future generations of that device will be.
ReplyDeleteThe printing press is considered one of the most important inventions in history for good reason, but imagine how many minds would be blown if they could see the advancements made in this day and age back then. As Michelle said, The kindle will be interesting to watch to see if it takes off or not.
ReplyDeleteThe printing press of the 16th century, is an easy comparison to the internet. They both took on the task of sharing information more efficiently. It must have been quite a relief to no longer have to write books free-hand, I can't even imagine the process. I wonder if the internet, and the technology of always having connectivity to it will eventualy rid the world of paper books. With everyone "going green" I wouldn't be suprised to see books only in museums by the time 2050 rolls around.
ReplyDeleteim so greatful for the creation of the printing press, which is now the modern printer. without it we would have to write out books and 10 page papers...not fun. and if you mess up you would have to re-write the whole page....again not fun.
ReplyDeleteI could never imagine writing a whole book by hand. The printing press was a great invention for people who write books. The printing press allows for millions of copies to be made of a book. Could you imagine reading your school text book handwritten????
ReplyDeleteThe printing press served two purposes. The first was that it led to unemployment. Technology will eventually beat out all who go into manual labor. It will also beat out those that do simpler tasks in the white-collar field as well. Its real purpose was to expand education and knowledge sharing. Intelligence was no longer reserved to the elite. It improved everyone’s lifestyle, even the wealthy. Any king of England lived a lavish lifestyle by the standards of his time, but add a job, delete the servants, and our middle class has a much better life than he ever did. We have computers, iPods, motor vehicles, running water, a sanitation department, fresh food, etc. The list goes on.
ReplyDeleteI always wondered what the printing press looked like. I'm not surprised it's so bulky, but otherwise, its not what I expected.
ReplyDeleteThe printing press was amazing for its time, and now you can get something of much higher quality for less than $50! Incredible when you think about it. Polaroid just released a hand-held portable printer than will print out your photos rights on the spot. Its a touch larger than a 5"7" photo, and about as thick as a wallet.
ReplyDeleteWriting today would be very hard without the printing press. If everyone had to write everything by hand, we would not have near as much material as we do today.
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