“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” – John 1:1
In all of society I believe that there has never been anything more profound then the act of putting words on paper and being able to distribute those words globally. From the beginning of time man has tried to get the words from his mouth and brain put into some form of archiving system, starting from drawing scribbles onto animal hides, to mud symbols on rocks, maybe even scratching the first letters into the sides of caves.
One of the most ingenious ways of accomplishing this was the printing press; which in my humble opinion totally changed society forevermore. You are probably wondering still, why did I start with a verse from the Bible? Good question.
Two reasons
First, when you thinking about how the printing press started, it was used to mass produce an ancient text that had been passed down from generation to generation via writings on scrolls. Second, with over 5 billion copies ever sold and who knows how many copies freely passed out through the centuries, the Bible is considered the best selling book of all time.1 Now that’s amazing and just honestly shows the sure magnitude of influence and world change that one invention could have.
The fact is the idea of the printing press is not a new thing. Movable type was used in China much prior to Johannes Gutenberg created the first printing press. What he did, though, was to mechanize the process.2 “It played a key role in the development of the Renaissance, Reformation, the Age of Enlightenment, and the Scientific revolution and laid the material basis for the modern knowledge-based economy and the spread of learning to the masses.”3
As a creative person, having the printing press is really an important part of our DNA. Without it we honestly wouldn’t have the modern forms of communication like magazines, books, catalogues, direct mail, flyers, ads, and the list goes on and on.
It all started with a word then it grew to the technological advances we have today to spread our knowledge. Let our words be power to change lives and history forever.
“The printing press is the greatest weapon in the armory of the modern commander.” ― T.E. Lawrence