The Origin of Information Science
notes for my dissertation
Archive
May
30th
Fri
Elizabeth Eisenstein’s point: the printing press is not a medium. It is a means of producing media, printed media. Because the printing press is not a medium, the ‘media revolution’ of the pinting press was not in creating a new way to communicate, but rather by increasing communication. In other words, it did not invent a new type of document as much as it increased tenfold the production of documents. Often, even, it was the same documents as before. However, by sharing MORE of (mostly) the same documents, Gutenberg created a huge leap for the accuracy of information (by the process of feedback), as well as the stimulation of ideas.