The invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg is arguably one of the greatest ever made. It’s no exaggeration to say it revolutionised the world we live in. The first press marked a clear shift away from handwritten books to printed ones, but the changes the press initiated are far greater than this.
Over time the moveable printing press developed into faster, higher capacity presses which ultimately changed the world. One of the main benefits of the printing press was that it allowed ideas and news to be shared quickly which helped usher in the Renaissance, Reformation, the Age of Enlightenment and the scientific revolution.
Compared to previous methods of distributing information, the printing press allowed these to be delivered accurately and at speed. This helped new ideas in the worlds of science and philosophy in particular to spread, which opened up debate on a global scale. It also allowed news and facts to be shared much more quickly than before, in an accessible form for the masses.
The Printing Press And Education
Indeed, another benefit of the printing press is the impact it had upon education. It is thought that as the number of newspapers, journals, magazines and books increased, so did people’s literacy levels. Prior to the invention of the printing press, books were written by scholars one at a time which lead to small pockets of knowledge but no widespread form of idea sharing. After the development of the printing press, literary works were much more readily available and this meant more people took an interest in reading and education. It wasn’t until after the printing press was invented that public libraries were developed.
As printing presses developed and the use of colour was incorporated into the machines, the potential for them to spread news, information and educate grew further with new types of publication emerging all the time.
The Printing Press Today
Today it is hard to imagine a world without printed material – even in the digital age, products produced by presses are still an integral part of daily life.
BBR Graphics have been sourcing and refurbishing printing presses for more than 30 years. We supply a wide range of high quality printing presses including KBA, Komori, Mitsubishi and Ryobi models.
