Printing Press vs. Internet

With the creation of the computer and Internet, there is a new revolution taking place. Today, we have the ability to access worldwide documents with just an easy click of the mouse. We can access anything from books, new, photographs, videos, and even personal information. Although this advance in technology seems like a necessity to us today, people from the past felt the same when the printing press came about. The printing press era had such big and profound effects on its age which we should see and expect the same for the era today. We tend to think that there is no other way to send or retain information faster then what we are familiar with but when the printing press was a new technology information seemed to be moving faster then ever. The invention of the printing press allowed books and news to be mass produced and the creation of the internet allowed people around the world to communicate much faster.

The first movable printing press was invented by Johann Gutenberg in 1440. It was able to mass produce books and news and increased the amount of communication around the world as well. Although this was a great improvement and became important of this time, as does everything, there were some negative effects of it. Information was being shared more and seemed fast for the time but when compared to the fast connection of the internet it is actually slow and can be considered today an inconvenience. When the internet came about it opened up a whole new world. Although this revolution would have not existed without the printing press era, it brought about much more problems along with great opportunities. The negative effects that the internet brings about are that anyone can access anything. In today’s society you can research personal information about anyone you chose and you also can have people hack into your computer and regain information you wish not to share. Also the spread of pornography has greatly increased because of its easy access. With the printing press this was not possible. Although this is a very serious problem, people still tend to use the internet daily. Overall, both inventions greatly affected the world, in some way good, and in other ways for bad.

Many will argue that the internet had a much greater impact on society as did the printing press. Although both greatly furthered communication, the internet brought it to a whole new level. There is no more waiting days or weeks to receive a letter or to no what is happing in your town, country, or any in the world. Updated daily you can retain all this information and it is just becoming easier as time goes on. Using the internet you can even find old friends and classmates and their contact information. It is also a great way for students to get in touch with teachers when needing assistance or just looking for the notes they might have missed in class.

The printing press seemed to amazed people back in time but today it is slowly being pushed out of business because of these new astonishing technologies that are only going to get even more advance over time. There is no longer need for mass production of papers and books when they can be accessed much more easily and much cheaper with the internet. The internet also supports Going Green in today’s society.

work cited

Nosotro, Rit. “From Blocks to Bites.” “Hyper History.” 2009. 21 October 2009. <http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/essay/cot/t0w24communication.htm>

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