| People onced used drums and smoke signals to send messages asross sparsley inhabited vallys. Later they wrote on rock qalls then on paprus. People invented paper, wrote letters, and sent them by foot, boat, or horseback. As history maved along, new forms of information sharing were invented. Ssome of this picture is at (http://www.folkart.com/~latitude/thompson/thompson.htm) |
| One of the life-changing inventions was the printing press. Johann Gutinberg created a printion press with moveable metal type containing letters, numbers, and symbols, and in 1454, printed multiple copies of a letter. Thr invention of the printing press allowed millions of inexpensive paper copies to be made quickly and easily.Gutenburg's press was the photocopy machine of the 15th century. today printing presses allow millions of books newspapers and magazines to be mass produced every day. This picture is at |
| Paper printing created huge new industries. Newspapers have billions of subscribers around the world. Billions of books, magazines,adcertisements, and printed materials are constantly being reproduced. Millions of new jobs were created in this printed, paper-based communications industry. Billions of trees have given up their leafy lives to satisfy the insatiable appetite of this industry of printing presses, fax machines, photocopy machines, and millions of printers. |