The Importance Of The Printing Press

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“The printing press is either the greatest blessing or the greatest curse of modern times, one sometimes forgets which” - James Matthew Barrie. It is a blessing because it is much easier to print things but a curse because now news and bad things could travel much faster. James Matthew Barrie is the writer of the popular story of Peter Pan. In 1398 the inventor of the printing press was born in Mainz Germany. Johann Gutenberg, the Renaissance inventor who changed the world forever.

Johann’s Childhood consisted of his longing for being able to read books. His birth name was Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden Gutenberg. He was taught how to read but his family was too poor to afford the books. The only way he had to get his hands on books was to ask his wealthy friends to borrow one. He was very disgusted that only the wealthy were able to have books. He wished that the common people were able to have them. When he was a teenager he decided to do something about only the wealthy having books. So he found an old abandon building and fixed a part of it up. There he was experimenting with making the moveable printing press. He ultimately failed in this early part in his life because he had run out of money.

Gutenberg was influenced by many things to pursue the development of the moveable type printing press. The biggest motivation for him was figuring out a way to make books less expensive so common people could buy them. He was one of the lower class people that loved to read but did not have enough money to buy them. After he had run out of money Johann Fust had given him money to continue to experiment. Johann Fust gave Gutenberg the opportunity to keep working on developing the printing press.

Johann’s adult life was very produc...

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...oks were now able to made a lot faster. In a way the literacy rate went up now that books were cheaper to buy. Since books were now more available, people wanted to learn how to read them. It was a shame that the creator of the one of the best inventions ever died with nothing. He was homeless and died in Mainz Germany 1468 where he was born. He never profited from his invention.

In conclusion, Johann Gutenberg, the Renaissance inventor changed the way this world will think forever. His invention was the core of the reformation in that he created the machine that was able to mass produce the Bible. By some, his invention is considered the best of all time. Johann’s life was pretty terrible considering he made this great invention and was poor all his life. Gutenberg will always be remembered for making the greatest invention of the Renaissance and maybe all time.

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