The Printing Press, the Internet of the Middle Ages

One of the most revolutionary inventions in Medieval Europe was the printing press.  The printing press allowed for more books to be produced in an efficient way.  This allowed for more people to have access to books, which lead to spread of knowledge to those who previously did not have access to books.  Not only did this help the spread of knowledge, but this also created an industry that led to an economic boom throughout Europe.

(Image Source: Wikipedia)

Centuries later another invention that made information more accessible to the public was the invention of the internet.  The internet allowed people to have access to lots of information without leaving their own homes. The internet helped lead to tech boom that helped create jobs that did not exist before and completely change the way we receive information today.

In a way the printing press was the internet of Medieval times.  It was a technology that changed how information was received in that time, this helped usher in the spread of literary works in the Renaissance.  Similarly the internet allows those to have an almost infinite amount of data at the public's fingertips. To fully realize the impact that the printing press had on history, we can compare it to how the impact the internet has in our daily lives.