History of the printing press

In the early 1450's rapid cultural change in Europe fueled a growing need for the rapid and cheap production of written documents. Johannes Gutenberg, a goldsmith and businessman from the mining town of Mainz in southern Germany, borrowed money to develop a technology that could address this serious economic bottleneck. Gutenberg foresaw enormous profit-making potential for a printing press that used movable metal type. Gutenberg developed his press by combining features of existing technologies: textile, …

…Internet and interactive multimedia are providing ways of employing the printed word that add new possibilities to print's role in culture. The printed word is now used for real-time social interaction and for individualized navigation through interactive documents. It is difficult to gauge the social and cultural impact of new media without historical distance, but these innovations will most likely prove to signal another major transformation in the use, influence and character of human communication.