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Technology and culture
The Smartphone Of 600 Years Ago
The changes made by smartphones 15 years ago are equal to the changes made by the printing press almost 600 years ago.
In 1439, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press. In 2007, the first iPhone came out.
Both of these inventions profoundly changed the power structures of their time, and smartphones are just getting started.
Printing presses allowed printed materials to be much more widely distributed, which helped encourage more widespread literacy. The masses had more access to information and education than ever before.
Presses also made it much easier for individuals to spread their ideas to the rest of the world.
Seeing any parallels yet?
Before we had printing presses, somebody had to pick up a quill pen and copy a manuscript by hand. Mostly, monks did this. The Catholic Church was a powerful force in Western society, and most people who were not members of the Catholic clergy were illiterate.
Nobody could read the Bible or anything else, so the people had to accept what they were told. They certainly couldn’t google it.
