Each of these inventions have become intricate parts of society and have had dramatic impact on the way people receive media. Either they’ve died down in recent years, or are continuing to expand, each of these publication methods have reached millions of people worldwide.
Newspaper dates back to ancient dynasties in China, where they would use block printed into paper and this occurred during the Tang dynasty. Since then, with the invention of the printing press in 1440, newspaper made its day view in Strasbourg Germany. What was then, the Holy Roman Empire. In 1605 Johann Carolus began printing what would later be credited as the first ever official newspaper, “Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien.” This was a news publication and has influenced the way people tell the news since its start. The printing press was the direct cause of newspapers and they were bound to come into existence as long as printing methods became easier and easier to mass produce large quantities of papers. This helped develop a need for average citizens to at least be able to read. That way they could keep up with the biggest new stories and keep in touch with whats happening in their nation. This is the first time where something that happened yesterday, possibly even in another country, would then reach a commoners doorstep and inform them of the things going on in the world. It was an extremely empowering tool and one that became widely popular. It took less than a hundred years for it to spread across the world to the Atlantic ocean and then eventually into Asia.
Steam Press. This invention goes hand in hand with the Newspaper. In 1810, Friedrich Koenig invented the first steam printing press. This allowed for rapid printing and for daily newspapers rather than weekly copies. The machine was a simple hand press machine made of cast iron, but simply hooked up to a steam press for faster printing. The steam engine, a brand new invention at the time, was being implemented in every form of machinery. Steam engines were attached to many numbers of gadgets to improve efficiency and made life much easier for many Americans. This era is also what many video games refer to as Steampunk. Everything was adapted to fit steam engines (Geoghegan). This phase in history didn’t ignore the printing press. The steam powered rotary printing press was made in the United States in 1843 by Richard M. Hoe. Mr. Hoe revolutionized the industry by adding a rotary press into the mix. The cylinder which replaced the common flat press, started to churn out numerous copies and massive amounts of paper. He tripled the output of the average flat printing press. It allowed millions of copies to be run in a single day.(Moore) This opened up news channels like never before and inspired reading and writing among all social classes.
Jumping ahead to Windows. Windows is the most common operating system in computers worldwide. Made by Bill Gates and his Microsoft team back in 1985. Windows was designed as a simple graphic interface and wouldn’t become a hit until Windows 3 in 1990(Fitzpatrick). This was also the birth of the Word document. This interface allowed for people to create text documents and a number of features, never before seen. This interface opened up and made the creation of printable documents considerably easier for anyone with a computer. Handwriting was no longer an issue and printing became more easily accessible. Windows continued to evolve as a operating system. The operating system(OS) is what everyone is familiar with today. The OS simplifies coding and command functions in computers. The OS basically over simplifies the use of a computer for average people without computer experience. Some of the backlash involved with this is the complaint that people won’t understand the coding involved with the creation and functions of a computer. While this is true, it allowed for computers popularity to hit mainstream with large companies pushing OS’s forward. Such as IBM and Microsoft.
- Cory Price
Newspaper
Steam Press
Windows Logo
Works Cited
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Fitzpatrick, Alex. “It Took Microsoft 3 Tries Before Windows Was Successful.” Time.Com, 20 Nov. 2014. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.stevenson.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=99555396&site=ehost-live.
Moore, Keith. “Rolling Thunderer.” Professional Engineering, vol. 13, no. 22, 29 Nov. 2000, p. 65. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.stevenson.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=3945617&site=ehost-live.
Teleanalysis. www.teleanalysis.com/news/microsoft-christmas-gift-windows-fans-india-23958. Accessed 23 Feb. 2017.
WordPress.aehistory.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/screen-shot-2012-10-08-at-1-12-36-am.png?w=298. Accessed 23 Feb. 2017.
