Gutenberg: Printing Press Technology (1440)
by Anonymous
Johannes Gutenberg had to choose how to make mass printing viable. His movable type system with oil-based ink won over woodblock printing and hand-copying, launching the information revolution.
Movable Metal Type
~1440
year
Pages per day vs pages per week
speed
Dropped dramatically with volume
cost per copy
Chosen — revolutionized information spread
outcome
Improved Woodblock Printing
~1440
year
Faster than hand-copying but inflexible
speed
High — new block for each page
cost per copy
Continued in Asia but supplanted in Europe
outcome
Continue Hand-Copying (Scriptoria)
~1440
year
Very slow
speed
Extremely high
cost per copy
Monasteries eventually adopted printing
outcome
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