The Printing Press vs. the PC

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the societal changes, which occurred with the invention of the printing press in the 15th Century, are similar to the changes, which occurred with the invention of accessible home computers (PC) and the Internet during the last half of the 20th Century . The author points out that both the printing press and the computer and the Internet have decreased the size of the world by making it easier to share information with individuals around the world and to incorporate the work of others without redundantly repeating what has already been done. The paper concludes that the world has grown in that people are now able to reach further places with greater ease and can be more cognizant of the greater social context within the world.

From the Paper:

"Perhaps the biggest ramification of the printing press was the Protestant Reformation. The ability of the Bible to be reproduced in mass quantities, and distributed to individuals, led to new interpretations of the meaning of the stories within the Bible. Previously, all interpretations of the Bible were made by priests who then re-told the stories of the Bible, in their own words, to the masses. These new interpretations led to individuals questioning the previous interpretations of the Bible."

Sample of Sources Used:

• "Gutenberg, Johann." The Columbia Encyclopaedia, 6th ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001-04. www.bartleby.com/65/. [December 2, 2004].
• http://www.ou.edu/cls/blsintro/press.html
• Dewar, A. (2004). The Information Age and the Printing Press; Looking Backward to See Ahead. http://www.rand.org/publications/P/P8014/
• Woreck, D. & Parwini, Z. (2001). Six Hundred Years Since the Birth of Johann Guttenberg, the Inventor of the Printing Press. http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/jan2001/gute-j03.shtml

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