I often find myself wondering why the printing press was such a massive invention. Of course, it revolutionized the ability to spread information and document history, but the machine itself seems very simple; apply pressure to a screw that then pushes paper into the type form.
That leaves me with the thought that I am missing something big. I understand that my thoughts of it being simple are swayed by the fact the we live in a post-printing press world, but I choose the believe I’m smarter than all of humanity before me. /s
So that leaves me with the question, how did it take so long for this to be invented? Are we stupid?
In: Engineering
The concept of a press is not that complicated. But a press by itself is useless. You need a bunch of things to make it actually work.
You need tools and craft skills to make the moving parts. Those parts need to be made of suitable material that will withstand wear and tear.
You need the ability to create movable type, which means you need another set of materials, tools, and craft skills.
You need suitable ink and paper. You need those things to be cheap enough to justify doing this instead of just writing.
All of those require their own inventions, and often have further ‘prerequisites’.
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