Table of Contents
- Introduction
- How The Printing Press Is Like The Internet
- Rapid spread of information
- Similarities in the impact on society
- The Printing Press and the Internet: A Comparison
- The Digital Age
Introduction
The internet has become an indispensable part of our daily lives, and it's almost impossible to imagine what life was like before it. It has changed the way we live, work, and communicate with others. However, the internet is not the only technology that has had a significant impact on our lives. One such technology is the printing press, which was invented several centuries ago but had a similarly transformative effect on society. Its influence can even be traced as a precursor to the development of the internet.
While writing has been around for thousands of years, its advancement beyond a basic counting method was limited to religious institutions and the elite. Prior to the invention of the printing press in 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg, books were handwritten, making them rare and costly. The printing press, the first of many mechanical devices that expanded access to knowledge, allowed for cheaper production of books, leading to greater dissemination of information and ultimately paving the way for the development of the Internet.
Following the printing press, many other devices were invented, such as the typewriter, telegraph, photocopier, printer, and scanner. The computer, with its programmable core, evolved from the mechanical loom that used punch cards to create programmable patterns. Early computer programs were translated into punch cards, and computers using this system for input still existed in the 1960s. The Internet, which began as a US Department of Defense research project aimed at connecting computers, took fifty years to become the global knowledge network that it is today.
How The Printing Press Is Like The Internet
The printing press, which was first conceptualized in mid-15th century Germany, brought a significant transformation to literature production by allowing thousands of pages to be produced daily, compared to only tens through hand-printing. It contributed to the accessibility of knowledge and culture and facilitated a remarkable increase in literacy levels, similar to the impact of the internet in the present era.
Although the printing press and the internet are vastly different, some argue that the latter may not have existed without the former. Without the printing press, other inventions such as the typewriter, telegraph, computer, and even our smartphones may not have been developed. The internet is, in many ways, a direct descendant of the printing press. The irony lies in the fact that various publications and newspapers have abandoned printing entirely, opting instead to shift their content online.
Rapid spread of information
Unlike flying machines, the printing press took most people by surprise; it wasn’t a technology that everyone had been dreaming about for centuries. Like the start-up world, many printing shops failed, but many succeeded, and in just a few decades, printing presses were available in every sizable community. The cost of entry was low, and more books were printed in the fifty years after Gutenberg's invention than had been created by scribes in the previous 1,000 years. The printing press decentralized the gatekeeping role, making it more challenging to maintain control over ideas and their dissemination.
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The printing press, of course, fueled Martin Luther's challenge to Catholic orthodoxy. Only a century earlier, both John Wycliffe and John Hus sparked intense spiritual movements and wrote prolifically, but the absence of adequate printing technology limited the distribution of their works. Wycliffe was condemned, and Hus was burned at the stake. The printing press changed all that; within three years of posting his famous 95 theses in 1517, Luther had sold some 300,000 copies of his printed works.
Similarities in the impact on society
While printing initially seemed like an efficient way to disseminate words and images, it was much more than that. The impact of the printing press was far-reaching and often unpredictable. For example, the ability to read books silently in private was a significant shift from the previous practice of hearing words read aloud. This newfound privacy revolutionized personal reading habits, and no one could see what you were reading or thinking. Copyright and intellectual property were new concepts that arose with the increasing popularity of books and the desire of writers and publishers to maintain control.
The spread of literacy and printed material also gave rise to the eyeglass industry, which led to advances in lens-making and the development of the telescope, challenging biblical cosmology. The printing press transformed numerous fields, including religion, science, and politics, and put information and power in the hands of many. It also fueled a celebrity culture, as authors and activists competed for notoriety, disrupting authority and hierarchy, pitting groups against one another. These changes can be compared to the impact of social media, fueled by the internet, today.
The rise of the printing press had both positive and negative effects on society. While it helped bring about democracy and enlightenment, it also contributed to violence and disorder. Edward Snowden in his book, Permanent Record said: “Technology doesn’t have a Hippocratic oath.” In other words, “technology is not bound by ethical considerations.”
Unlike the monks, who were guided by religious values, printers were profit-driven businessmen. They published materials that would appeal to buyers, ranging from conspiracy theories and satirical works to recipes and even erotica. Readers could find validation for any perspective, and even false information could be set in type and presented as fact. This trend is just like the era of clickbait that dominates the internet today.
The Printing Press and the Internet: A Comparison
Literacy serves as a common link between the printing press and the Internet. Effective communication and information sharing requires planning and cooperation, and this can only be achieved by writing plans and distributing tasks. Although the Internet is an innovative system for distributing information, the origins of the information on the Internet still lie with national government institutions, which also controlled knowledge before the printing press.
The Internet has adversely affected the printing industry, with some newspapers failing and others struggling to stay afloat as readership has shifted to free online versions. Libraries now compete for funding in a world where information online is instantly updated. The internet is as unregulated as printing, it is far cheaper to put up a Web page than to print a book, allowing false information, propaganda, and personal opinions to be presented as facts.
The Digital Age
The sharing of ideas today has experienced exponential growth since the emergence of the printing press. The innovation still makes an impact 500 years later, where knowledge can be transferred instantly across the globe using the Internet. Various platforms, such as social media, digital books, and scientific research, have facilitated the sharing of different ideas with anyone willing to learn. Ideas are now shared on a massive scale, thanks to electronic media and its advanced technology.
It is clear that the impact of innovation on human society is closely related to the speed and scope of communication it enables. Just as the printing press brought about faster communication through the means of published books and written pieces, the Internet allows for the instant sharing of information on an unprecedented scale. Advances in communication and knowledge sharing lead to more discoveries that push human technology forward. The printing press played a significant role in this dissemination of knowledge and will undoubtedly continue to inspire our ability to read, write, and communicate as humans.
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