The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe and Technology Today

Of course the way of life in early modern Europe and the way of life in the present day are greatly different. Knowledge is spread faster through new advances in technology. Cell phones have become an accessory of almost everyone and the internet opens a window to basically every topic in life. Compared to the early days in Europe where communication was difficult and everyday life was composed mostly of hard labor, technology today creates new ways of communication as well as easier labor. Religion still has an impact today, but not nearly as much as it did during the early modern days in Europe. Even most present day governments follow democratic values that were very different from the more feudal and aristocratic way of governing back then. However, if there was one period that could bring together these two extremely different eras, it would have to be the Printing Revolution. This revolution of printing led to a spread of knowledge that could be very similar to the spread of knowledge we are receiving today through means of the internet, cellular technology and television. It could even possibly explain some of the new changes in methods of thinking and learning society is presently going through because the printing press revolutionized many aspects of life in early modern Europe as well. Technological advances that could be closely compared to the invention of the printing press are the internet, cellular phones, and mobile technology.

Before the dawn of printing in early modern Europe, the only form of duplication in writing and literature was scripture. Script copying was a very long and tedious job. The copiers would have to spend days on end just copying one book. The production of books was very limited in numbers as well as who actually read them. Only aristocratic, upper class people were able to get their hands on such an item due to their literacy and high value. Due to the fact that many people did not fall in the category of upper class or literate, ideas was often kept only to those who could afford to spend their time reading instead of working. Knowledge was kept at a stand still, and information could mostly travel from person to person on a verbal basis. However, when the first printing presses started to turn out numerous amounts of books, things began to change. More and more common people began to learn how to write, and read. This allowed for the vast exchange of ideas throughout Europe. Not only did Knowledge spread faster, it spread more accurately. In the early days of scripture, many copiers would change information due to lazy or sloppy techniques. Information had a reputation of being changed and influenced by whose ever hands copied the books that held it (Eisenstein). Now, with the beginning of the printing press, information and ideas were literally just duplicated. This left less room for faulty errors or tampering. Heavy duplication also led to better preservation. As Eisenstein stated, "After the advent of printing, however, the durability of writing material became far less significant." Now that books were at the grasp of more people, ideas could be preserved through numbers not just being kept in a safe place.

I think that this sudden rapid spread of knowledge can be compared to the spread of knowledge society is receiving due to the internet. The internet has played a key role in the way people obtain and absorb their information. Instead of people being able to solely get the latest news from the television or newspaper, people are able to get it at the click of a button. Information is spread even faster due to the accessibility of the internet. People are able to get news when they want it and where they want it. Also they can control the content they want to see. The television provides for specific channels with different views and opinions, however, the internet provides for even more specific information at all times. This spread of knowledge can be compared to the printing press because the internet opened doors to many new topics that are even easier to access. Instead of a student having to travel to the local library and search through many books to find a topic of interest, they can find what they are looking for with a search engine. The search engines of today provide for even faster results. This could also be compared to the printing revolution when students suddenly had access to books that could back up professor's lectures and classes. "A serious student could now endeavor to cover a larger body of material by private reading than a student or even a mature scholar needed to master or could hope to master before printing books made books cheap and plentiful," as stated by Craig Thompson, editor of The Colloquies of Erasmus. Now in the modern world, internet databases back up the use of books and provide for even more accessibility to knowledge.

In the early days of printing, knowledge was not only spread through text. Images also provided for even more user-friendliness. For common folk who weren't so literate, the creation of picture books made tasks such as understanding the bible more efficient. Images became much more abundant during the printing revolution. This abundance also led to innovations in science. "It was not the "printed word" but the "printed image" that was the savior of Western science". Scientific diagrams and pictures helped spread new advances in science and technology. This wealth of images is also what has happened in the present day with the internet and cellular technology. In my opinion images are probably the most prominent subject on the World Wide Web. There are so many ways to exchange ideas, information and personal profiles through images. Online video streaming provides for news you could once only get through a television. Also image databases such as AltaVista, Google, and Yahoo provide for images in practically every topic. This extreme abundance of imagery helps science and learning visually instead of just textual. Basically the same way printed images helped science during the printing revolution.

Another similarity that the internet and printing press have to offer is the new availability of referencing. The World Wide Web itself is a reference tool, with many links leading to different pages creating a "web" of information and knowledge. Just like the internet, books back in early modern Europe were suddenly able to reference other books due to new standardization of printing. Printing made it easier to cite other works of literature, and even made it more possible to advertise. "The use of Arabic number for pagination suggests how the most inconspicuous innovation cold have weighty consequences- in this case, a more accurate indexing, annotation, and cross referencing resulted,". However, since the internet is so new to society, innovations in standardization are still taking place. Many websites and internet content do not follow the same rules such that printing has already accomplished. Content can be easily distorted, and credit may not be given to those who deserve it. Also much information on the internet could be simply false, and mislead people. However, this can be compared to the time when books were distorted due to lazy craftsmanship in printing. With time, the web has gained many useful databases and online indexing that make it easier and more reliable to search for information or content.

Possibly one of the most innovative consequences due to the internet and mobile technology is the ease of communication. Society has gone from being personal to putting personal profiles and information about themselves online. Online profiles give people the opportunity to reach greater demographics and tell the story of their own lives to thousands of people. Online journals now exploit what used to be kept personal and secret to the whole world. Also instant messaging, text messaging, and email provide for more impersonal ways of communication. The barriers of communication have now been broken with the use of the web and mobile devices. People are now able to interact with more than a telephone. However, this impersonal way of communication was also a concern with the printing revolution in early modern Europe. Intellectuals, with the advent of printing, were now able to receive information from far distances. The vast amount of literacy now provided for news and ideas to be spread through letters. Before the days of printing, people would have to gather and assemble in their local towns to receive the news. However, the spread of printing led for a more impersonal way of news gathering and critics claimed that intellects lost a little bit of their more local connection. These new kind of intellectuals were known as "Letter Men,". These were people who began to write journals and express their personal lives through books. It was simply easier for them to do so because of the spread of literacy and print.
"The displacement of pulpit by press is significant not only in connection with secularization but also because it points to an explanation for the weakening of local community ties. To hear an address delivered, people have to come together; to read a printed report encourages individuals to draw apart," (Elizabeth Eisenstien).

It is obvious that the Printing Revolution in Early modern Europe brought about significant change to the world as we know it today. Not only did it change the production of literature but to the spread of knowledge and how people absorb it. New ways in processing that knowledge and communicating that knowledge brought about a revolutionary period. The revolutionary period of enlightenment is also a reflection of the same kind of information explosion we are receiving with the internet. The World Wide Web provides for a new way to receive information. It is received faster, absorbed faster, and also changes our pattern of thought the same way that printing did in the early days of modern Europe. It is only a matter of time that society could break the communication barriers once again and provide for an even faster and more efficient way to spread the same ideas that were once spread in a more primitive way.

Works Cited
Eisenstien, Elizabeth L. The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe. 2nd ed. New York NY: Cambridge UP, 2005.