The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe

In the Beginning Was the Word and Then Four Revolutions in the History of Information

“…The revolution in printing is well-studied; the invention of the printing press and movable type (c. 1450) has been credited as the catalyst for the Reformation (16th-17th Centuries) and for allowing the Renaissance (14th-17th Centuries) to take hold, both as necessary contributors to the Enlightenment (17th-18th Centuries), which gave birth to the modern state and innovations in philosophy and science (Martin 1994;Deibert 1997;Eisenstein 2005). A ripple effect followed the printing press requiring reassessment of the theological enterprise that redefined our understanding of the human being's place in the world and the cosmos, as we went from being an imago dei (a divine "imprint" made in the image of God) living in nature, God's creation just outside the Garden of Eden, to human individuals set afloat in a solar system, though quite able and endowed with curiosity and reason.…”

“…Though the revolution in printing follows a spark that it therefore could not have ignited, it nonetheless can be credited in large part for contributing to the Enlightenment, including innovations in philosophy, politics, mathematics and science that brought with them a new worldview and a new sense of self-awareness (Deibert 1997). It definitely facilitated the Reformation which depended on the quick duplication and the wide-spread dissemination of texts (Deibert 1997;Edwards 1994;Eisenstein 2005). So, when the 15th Century opened, inventors and an industry were ready in wait to respond with what might best be described as the mass production of writing.…”

Cultural consequences of computing technology

“…It was only in late medieval Europe that the conjunction of paper, alphabetical writing and the printing press made it possible for independent craftsmen to print all kinds of written document, at little cost and outside official institutions. Printing greatly lowered the cost of reproducing and disseminating ideas and knowledge at a crucial moment in European history (Eisenstein, 1983).…”

“…Let us consider again the impact of the printing press on European society during the Renaissance, as described in (Eisenstein, 1983). Printing made texts easier and cheaper to reproduce, hence much more available than when they had to be painstakingly copied by hand.…”

A külföldi lapkiadók belső erőforrásai és a piacorientáció

“…Dimmick, Chen és Li (2004) kimutatták, hogy a kiadók -összehasonlítva minden korábbi hagyományos médiafelülettel -az internet megjelenésével veszítették a legtöbbet (a lapok 28%-os veszteséget könyvelhettek el). McLuhan nyomán Eisenstein (1983) rámutat, hogy a társadalom minden technológiai innovációt elfogad és használ, az emberek készek elsajátítani az új technológiához kapcsolódó viselkedésmin-tákat, a híreket is már egyre többen olvassák interneten. A technológia (ezen esetben az internet) hatása nem választható el a technológiát adaptáló és használó társadalmi környezettől (Hallin -Mancini 2004), így ha az újmédiás eszközök elfogadottsága magas, erre a média-piaci szereplőknek is reagálniuk kell.…”