Print culture
Prior to print, knowledge was transmitted through oral traditions, including formulaic story telling supported by mnemonic techniques,[1][2] as well as architectural and material artifacts.
Over time, a greater need for reliable, quickly reproduced, and a relatively inexpensive means of distributing written text arose.
Written language facilitated higher levels of organization, coherence and consistency of messages, extending reach of control, ownership and belief, creating rule of law, critical comparison of statements, among other effects.
Around 1230, Koreans invented a metal type movable printing which was described by the French scholar Henri-Jean Martin as "extremely similar to Gutenberg's".
Even so, the earliest publications were still often different from the original, for a short time, in some ways manuscripts still remaining more accurate than printed books.
In contrast, the printing press allowed rapid propagation of ideas, resulting in knowledge and cultural movements that were far harder to destroy.
Similarly, Eisenstein points to a large number of prior attempts in Western Europe to assert doctrines contrary to the ruling Catholic Church.
In contrast, the Protestant Reformation spread rapidly and permanently due to the printing of non-conformist works such as the 95 Theses.
Eisenstein equally examined the impact of print on the development of science with the rapid and extensive dissemination of observations and data, the exact reproductions of charts and figures that allowed for comparison, and the impulse towards aggregation taxonomy.
[23] Johannes Gutenberg invention of the moveable type printing press provided a less expensive (though still costly) and more rapid way of filling the demand for books.
Despite these advantages, printing had many critics, who were afraid that books could spread lies and subversion or corrupt unsuspecting readers [citation needed].
The shift from scholarly Latin to everyday languages marked an important turning point in print culture.
Along with scientific texts, like the works of Copernicus, Galileo, and Tycho Brahe, atlases and cartography started taking off within the new print culture, mostly due to the exploration of different nations around the world.
The American Revolution was a major historical conflict fought after print culture brought the rise of literacy.
Magna Carta was originally a scribal document of 1215, recording an oral transaction restricting the power of English kings and defining rights of subjects.
This onslaught of printed text was brought about by the anonymous writings of men such as Benjamin Franklin, who was noted for his many contributions to the newspapers, including the Pennsylvania Gazette.
In fact, much like other forms of 18th century print culture, newspapers played a very important role in the government following the Revolutionary War.
Not only were they one of the few methods in the 18th century to voice the opinion of the people, they also allowed for the ideas to be disseminated to a wide audience, a primary goal of printed text.
These were first published in New York City newspapers in 1788 and pushed for people to accept the idea of the United States Constitution by enumerating 85 different articles that justified its presence, adding to a series of texts designed to reinforce each other, and ultimately serving as a redefinition of the 18th century.
Jay David Bolter, author of Writing Space, also discusses our culture in what he calls "the late age of print."
The current debate going on in the literary world is whether or not the computer will replace the printed book as the repository and definition of human knowledge.
There is still a very large audience committed to printed texts, who are not interested in moving to a digital representation of the repository for human knowledge.
Gunkel states that information now takes the form of immaterial bits of digital data that are circulated at the speed of light.
Consequently, what the printed book states about the exciting new culture and economy of bits is abraded by the fact that this information has been delivered in the slow and outdated form of physical paper.
Print itself contained a set of invisible and inherent censors, which electronic media is helping to remove from the creation of text.
While this brings society closer, and makes publications more convenient and accessible, ordering a product online reduces contact with others.
The advances of technology in print culture can be separated into three shifts: The written word has made history recordable and accurate.
The advances made by technology in print also impact anyone using cell phones, laptops, and personal digital organizers.
From novels being delivered via a cell phone, the ability to text message and send letters via e-mail clients, to having entire libraries stored on PDAs, print is being influenced by devices.
The point of the discussion at hand is to have a word that encompasses all forms of communication - that which is printed, that which is online media, even abuilding or notches on a stick.
