The Print Press - The Beginning of Media

The printing press was really the true start of media. It was a way to get multiple pieces of information to large amounts of people. The true definition of the printing press is “A machine that transfers lettering or images by contact with various forms of inked surface onto paper or similar material fed into it in various ways. The device is used for printing many copies of a text on paper.” A main purpose of the printing press was the publishing of books. In the beginning, it made text books which in turn made it easier and more consistent to education people. “The printing press certainly initiated an "information revolution" on par with the Internet today,” (Kreis, S. 2000). Johannes Gutenberg, a former stonecutter and goldsmith, Gutenberg devised an alloy of lead, tin and antinomy that would melt at low temperature, cast well in the die, and be durable in the press. It was then possible to use and reuse the separate pieces of type, as long as the metal in which they were cast did not wear down, simply by arranging them in the desired order. The mirror image of each letter (rather than entire words or phrases), was carved in relief on a small block. Individual letters, easily movable, were put together to form words; words separated by blank spaces formed lines of type; and lines of type were brought together to make up a page. Since letters could be arranged into any format, an infinite variety of texts could be printed by reusing and resetting the type. Gutenberg, with his development of the print press, was able to print the famous Gutenberg Bible.