According to the YouTube video, “Movable Typeset”, people created and produced books by either handwriting them or by block printing. But these methods were proven to be slow, tedious, and prone to error. It was then that Gutenberg created the printing press, which was much faster and more accurate. This led to an effective and consistent rate at which books were being pumped out for the masses, which also meant lowering their costs (previously books were expensive). Not only did people from all over the world had their hands on books and were exposed to new information, but also people from different backgrounds (such as the working class) had acquired knowledge that used to be reserved for the upper class. Gutenberg’s printing press had a huge effect on the world such that we now live in an era where whatever we want, we need it to be simple, widely available, and quick (ideally, in an instant). This bleeds into the audience because there are some people (especially those with short attention spans) who prefer information to be concise or would want to get straight to the point rather than engaging in a long drawn out info dump. It also affects knowledge acquisition to be faster because say, someone wants to take up cooking, they can easily search up the recipe or cookbook that is perfectly curated for the novice crowds rather than be carefully taught by a teacher for how long it takes to master the recipe or the cooking skill. Although the numbers may be too much, considering how many people are involved in the production process of books using the printing press, I think it is still worthy to give credit to not only Gutenberg himself, but also to the authors, the editors, the publishers, the collaborators, those who acted as inspirations, the laborers who produced the books with the printing press, and so much more.

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