Gutenberg and Mass Communication

The perfection of the printing process by Johannes Gutenberg is known as the origin of mass communication. The printing press was the first practical method of communicating information and Ideas from a single to the source to a large. distant audience. The increased usage of the printing press led to text ranging from theological to narrative being Widespread. Long before the invention of Gutenberg’s printing press the Chinese used wooden block printing. ink. and movable clay type. Although European innovations came much later the European culture Was dramatically affected by the printing innovations.

European need for documentation grew rapidly With the expansion of trade and religion. For centuries sacred texts were hand copied and despite growth in the scribal profession scribes could not keep up with the demand for texts. Johannes Gutenberg and goldsmith and businessman from a mining town in southern Germany was intrigued by the profit-making potential of a device designed for mass printing.

Furthermore. when developing the printing press Gutenberg combined features of existing technologies such as textile.

papermaking and Winepresses. Gutenberg’s significant innovation was the efficient molding and casting of movable metal type. Each letter was carved into the end of a steel punch. which was hammered into a copper black; the copper impression was then inserted into a mold and molten alloy made of lead. antimony and bismuth was poured into the mold. The quick drying alloy resulted in an inverse image of a letter which was then attacked to a lead base. Gutenberg took much pride in his printing.

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and stressed quality over quantity. Gutenberg was especially particular about the printing of the Bible and therefore used the highest quality paper and ink. Despite the rapid success ol Gutenberg printing press Gutenberg failed to repay a loan and lost his printing business.

The church took advantage of the printing press and printed indulgences. theological and theological text. However, the church had difficulty controlling the activities of printers and the production and distribution of texts quickly became Widespread. William Caxton, a prolific translator, set up Englands first printing press in 1476. Caxton printed a variety of narrative titles such as The Canterbury Tales. Caxton determined the diction, spelling. and Word usage for all books he printed. Caxtons editorial contributions credited him With standardizmg the English language. When Europeans colonized in America Stephen Daye. a locksmith, open the first American printing press in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1638. Daye produced 1700 copies of Bay Psalms Book in 1640. this was the first book printed in the New World. For the most part. Gutenbergs printing press remained unchanged until the 19th century.

In the early 1800s continuous rolls of paper steam-powered press. and presses built With iron instead of wood were developed. Each advancement aided in the efficiency of printing and made it possible for Benjamin Day to create the penny press which is often considered the first true mass medium. Dramatic technological advancements have been made in printing culture. In 1884 Linotype. a method of creating movable type by machine was introduced and significantly increased production speed. The typewriter made the production and appearance of standardized print Widely accessible. The process of setting type continued to go through radical transformations.

With the development of the photomechanical composition. cathode ray tubes and laser technologies. The Xerox machine made a means of disseminating print documents available to everyone. Word processing transformed editing and contributed dramatic new flexibility to the Writing process. Computer printing has already moved through several stages of innovation. from the first daisy-wheel and dot matrix “impact” printers to common use of the non-impact printers: ink- ]et. laser and thermal-transfer. The internet provided ways of accessing the printed Word that adds neW possibilities to print‘s role in culture, The printed Word is now used for social interaction and for individualized navigation through interactive documents.