How did printing presses change the world?

Answer 1

The printing press affected the world massively. Here are some reasons why:

• It lowered the cost of books
• Libraries increased
• More books got published
• More people learnt to read and write

People across the globe were learning to read and the demand for books went up. Scribes couldn't keep up. German inventor Johannes Gutenberg invented the first wooden printing press. It printed bibles in weeks instead of years, which meant more books, which meant lower prices for books.

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Answer 2

They ennabled the much more rapid spread of information and also made it accessible to many more people. Previously, when all books had to be hand written they were much more expensive and could only be afforded by the rich. One of the very first uses to which the new technology was put was the printing of Luther's 95 Theses Against Indulgences in 1517. Within a relatively short time they were spread throughout Germany and beyond, making the new Reformation doctrines much harder to suppress and censure and also making the (at that stage) upstart monk, as some thought of him, well known.