Oral communication was the first method of documenting history. As we all know, however, stories can become altered over time with various storytellers adding their own twists to history. Once a written history of events was established, a little more lasting solidarity was ensured. But the reality of old, written histories was that writing took so much time that only one copy of anything existed. Eventually, armies of people were enlisted to begin scribing and copying texts for preservation.
When the Gutenberg Press was introduced, a revolution occurred that changed the course of written history. The Bible was the first mass-produced book by the Press and the first mass-distributed book throughout European lands. Now, various texts could be printed and released to audiences everywhere.
Advantages and disadvantages exist regarding the introduction of the Gutenberg Press. Most people undoubtedly argue that the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages, and there was a time when that was true. However, with increased Internet accessibility and increased globalization, some may see the initiation of mass-printing with the decline of the sacredness of books.
When there is less of something, that something automatically becomes more valuable. That’s simple economics. But people also want information, and that’s what the Gutenberg Press provided. Information was being spread world-wide, and people had the same access to information as his or her neighbor. Therefore, people were no longer just being told what was written in the Bible or other texts—they were actually getting to read and interpret it for themselves.
Today, the Gutenberg Press is a thing for history books. Our technology has far exceeded what the Gutenberg Press could provide, and now the spread of information no longer requires printing. The Internet spreads information much faster than any printing press ever could—without using a single drop of ink. This has major implications to printing worldwide.
As mentioned earlier, the demand for something affects its value. When only one book in the world exists, the value of that book is immeasurable. But when additional copies are introduced, the value goes down because that text is now accessible by everyone. And then when the same text is available online and accessible by multiple people simultaneously FOR FREE, the value of printed text practically no longer exists. Information is so readily available that people can take that information and rip it off to their own advantage.
Obviously, the positive significance of the Gutenberg Press is that it allowed the flow of information across the world, but it also decreased the value of printed information over time. With recent inventions of electronic book readers, the value of printed information is almost nonexistent. Eventually, the value of a printed book will once again be immeasurable because that book will reside in a museum. People will no longer hold multi-page books in their hands. Rather, they will possess a single electronic device that relays the information to them. Books themselves will be history.
Excellent post, Tasha, an enjoyable read. Yes, clearly you were gleaning from class what we talked about on Thursday. I think books will eventually become something that is decadent. But, that will take a very long time. Books, still, are a highly efficient medium, at low cost, and the ability to be non-connected in the world will be important for a while.
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