The 1440 Printing Press

A printing press is a machine engineered for the purpose of mass fabricating and duplicating text and images in a short amount of time with the use of metal type or plates. The very first printing press with movable type, where the type can be moved and rearranged to form new and different text, dates back in China in 1,000 A.D, created by a man named Pi Sheng. However, due to the complexity of the Chinese language, which contains thousands of characters, the printing press was proven void as it took too long and hard to reorganize the type. Back in Europe, no such invention was created yet, so scribes and monks copied books by hand, which took months and perhaps years to finish, making books rare, expensive, and solely involved with religion
First, the 1440 printing press impacted literacy. For example, due to the large amount of time duplicating a book successfully by hand, books were rare and expensive, exclusive to only the wealthy and educated. “With the invention of the printing press, better quality books were published and since they were able to be mass produced, the expense was reduced, making books more affordable to the general public” (“The Impact of the Printing Press” 1). As shown by the example, above, as a result from the great increase of books made from the printing press, people from the middle class and perhaps the lower class were able to possess and read books and with time and practice, they were able to read as well soon literacy increased among the vast population. Second, the 1440 printing press impacted education. For instance, after the printing press was created, the creation of the first newspapers presently followed. “By the 1600's, merchants, bankers, and commercial traders had become heavy users of print media. Printed newssheets called corantos appeared in the Netherlands, England, and other trading nations. The corantos reported mostly business news, such as which ships had landed and what goods they carried. The newssheets enabled merchants to learn of conditions affecting prices in distant markets. Corantos also printed advertising” (Schiller 4). This example shows that due to
Yet, time passes and things come and go, even the printing press, an invention that has greatly impacted the world for centuries. With the advancement and reliability on other inventions, the use of the printing press is proven a hassle and a liability with its constant use of paper, making a dent in the health of the environment. Specifically, for the past years, bookstores, such as Borders, have been closing alongside with the printing of books decreasing altogether alongside newspapers being irrelevant due to the great preference and better reliability on news on the web. Overall, the printing press’s future is dim with the high possibility that it’ll be no use to us anymore by the passing decades as technology further progresses. Now, there are other inventions that have brought great change and innovation for the centuries to come just like the printing press to replace it. Those inventions are electronical devices, especially the computer, and the Internet. They may greatly impact society, distinctly communication and education. Foremost, people around the world can communicate with each other in a second in a second using apps like Messenger on their phones or applications like Skype on their computers for free. Correspondingly, we are informed with breaking news stories and books could be seen online on any device, using wi-fi or data, or