Print+Technology

=__The Evolution of Print Technology__=

Print technology became an enlightenment which encouraged literacy in various cultures. Our technological determinism and knowledge hungry attitudes have us unconscious of our own perception. Print altered human perception which led to evolutionary change in our civilization.

The Ideomatic and Phonetic alphabet had different effects in and on the cultures from where they emerged which explain the division between east and west societies today (Malaspina 2003). Phonetic is fragmented, has a multiplicity of interpretations and individualization. Ideomatic is inclusive. This explains why we are unconscious when it comes to the ecological/“typographical man” because our thinking is still mechanically defined (Malaspina 2003). =__How Culture affected Print__=

According to Eisenstein, "printing fostered a new movement from image culture to word culture, a movement which was more compatible with Protestant bibliolatry and pamphleteering..." (Quick, Jessie).

Printing permitted the diffusion of ideas and brought new heights to thinking and imagination. It had tremendous social, political, intellectual, religious and educational impact on different cultures (Wisconsin 1996). For the first time in Europe there was mass movement and culture (Wisconsin 1996). The Reformation was the first revolutionary mass movement because it took advantage of the printed propaganda at that time (Crowley and Heyer 2003, 106).

The first books in print shops were bibles and religious texts. The next books were the "humanist" texts and other texts had very little to no printing of new ideas (Jones 2003). Humanism began to spread, causing many people to evaluate their beliefs with regards to intellect and spirituality (Quick, Jessie). Public dialogue in print became standardized and scientific research became a joint effort which allowed results to be published quickly. Reading became much easier since the print became clearer to the eyes and more organized due to tabularity. Manuals turned into pieces of art with clear and accurate illustrations. Languages with widespread literature were considered to be national languages and those without printed materials simply became local dialects (Wisconsin 1996).
 * __McLuhan's thoughts on Print__**

The social organization of all cultures changed because of writing. McLuhan argued that the invention of the alphabet, "shattered the charmed circle and resonating magic of the tribal world, exploding man into an agglomeration of specialized and psychically impoverished individuals, or units, functioning in a world of linear time and Euclidean space" (Derry 1996). We as human beings had a purpose; evolution, and needed a new technology in order to help us evolve. McLuhan points out that this invention was a start but it did not influence human development. McLuhan felt that the typewriter was somewhat distant as a writing form compared with handwriting:

Typing reduced expression... from personal to impersonal... The typewriter is a good distance. You're less closely attached to what you're writing. Handwriting remains part of you. It's difficult to see the shape of sentences in the maze of handwriting. When typing, you're more conscious of the appearance of your writing. You view it stretched out before you, detached from you. (Chandler 1992)

McLuhan basically explained that printed word forces the reader to become aware of the appearance of his/her writing. Therefore, we view our writing in a linear form and this is why most of us think linearly (Straubhaar and LaRose 2004, 65).

Once more, print accelerated the communication of information which led to further development of rational thinking (Quick, Jessie). “The printing press determined that logic is mechanically syllogistic” (Malaspina 2003). McLuhan stated: “//One shortcoming of print was the crumbling of society (Ebersole 1995). Unlike handwritten manuscripts, print supported personal privacy which served as a beginning to individual rights and freedoms (Quick, Jesse). McLuhan explained: "Printing, a ditto device, confirmed and extended the new visual stress. It created the portable book which men could read in privacy and in isolation from others" (Ebersole 1995).//

__** Governments attempted to control printing in several ways. Firstly, by giving one printer the exclusive rights to print a certain book or type of book. Secondly, the government issued seals of approval. Thirdly, by enforcing laws against books, authors, or booksellers which resulted in the Papal Index of Prohibited Books. The concepts of copyright and plagiarism gradually emerged (Wisconsin 1996).
 * __Government Control on Print

Governments became established and created laws to control their societies. In order to have a record of those laws and enforce them over distances, writing had to be established at the time. We human beings want to preserve knowledge that we have gained so far and we want to keep our record of existence. Eventually, capital and small letters were being used along with inserted spaces between the words, which evolved into punctuation (Baisley, Diane).

The printed book influenced human evolution in terms of altered perception, rational thought and knowledge. We are unconscious of the effects of this technology that we have not realized how depended we have become on technology. The “typographic man” is simply the evolution of human development influenced by technology. Rinegold summed it up nicely when he said: "You can't have an industrial revolution, you can't have democracies, you can't have populations that can govern themselves until you have literacy. The printing press simply unlocked literacy" (Quick, Jessie).

Bibliography

(2003). //Malaspina Great Books//. Online at:  consulted on December 12th, 1995,

BAISLEY, Diane. //Diane Baisley’s Web Site//. Online at:  CHANDLER, Daniel. (1992). //The Phenomenology of Writing by Hand//. Online at: , consulted on May 26th, 1997. CROWLEY, David and HEYER, Paul (Eds.) (2003). //Communication in History. Technology, Culture,// //Society//. Fourth Edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon/Pearson Education.

DERY, Mark. (1996). //Attain Escape Velocity//. Online at: http://www.levity.com/markdery/ESCAPE/VELOCITY/author/mcluhan.html. EBERSOLE, Samuel. (1995). //Communication and the Arts//. Online at:  HARWOOD, Alison. “//The Gutenberg Galaxy. The Making of Typographic Man by Marshall McLuhan", Evolution, Innovation, Communication, and the Future//, November 2000, online at: , consulted on September 8th, 2003. HOOKER, Richard. (1996). //Cuneiform//. Online at: <[|http://www.wsu.edu/%7Edee/GLOSSARY/CUNEI.HTM]>, consulted on July 14th, 1999. JONES, Bruce. (2003). //Bruce Jones’ Home Page//. Online at: , consulted on January 30th, 1997. QUICK, Jessie. //Historical Analysis of the Printing Press//. Online at: . STRAUBHAAR, Joseph and LaROSE, Robert. (2004). //Media Now. Communications Media in the Information Age.// 3rd Edition. Belmont, Wadsworth/Thompson Learning. WISCONSIN, University. (1996). //The Infancy of Printing; Incunabula // //At the Golda Meir Library//. Online at: , consulted on March 25th, 1999.