The Most Influential Person

[Flatlander]

Right around the turn of the new millenium, I saw a special on History Channel regarding who they thought to be the most influential person of the millenium. It was done "countdown" style, with various people such as Einstein, Franklin, and Ghandi noted. The person they decided was the most influential was Johannes Gutenberg, for his movable type printing press. From this website, I have provided a brief biography.

[size=-1]

[size=-1]Brief Biography - Johannes Gutenberg[/size]
[size=-1]Johannes Gutenberg was a German goldsmith and inventor best known for the Gutenberg press, an innovative printing machine that used movable type. Gutenberg was born between 1394 and 1400 and died in 1468. In 1438, Gutenberg began a business arrangement with Andreas Dritzehn, who funded his experiments in printing. In 1450, Gutenberg began a second arrangement with German businessman Johannes Fust. Fust lent Gutenberg the money to start a printing business and build a large Gutenberg Press, their printing projects included the now famous Gutenberg Bible. On September 30, 1452, Johann Guttenberg's Bible was published becoming the first book to be published in volume.[/size]

I am curious as to whether this is something that everyone agrees with, or whether anyone has a different suggestion. If so, why or why not?[/size]

 

[Tgace]

I wonder how Bill Gates will fare a few hundred years down the road? He's kind of the Gutenberg of the modern age.

 

[mj-hi-yah]

WOW LOL Flatlander I guess I knew something in the fourth grade! I did my 4th grade science fair project on his printing press! :ultracool So I'll have to stick with Johannes Guttenberg as his invention revolutionized information technology. One could even argue that without his invention *horror* there might not be a Martial Talk! :xtrmshock

 

[Ceicei]

Without Johannes, would Bill Gates even get that well known? After all, the printing press is what eventually led to the computer keyboard.

- Ceicei

 

[mj-hi-yah]

Without Johannes, would Bill Gates even get that well known? After all, the printing press is what eventually led to the computer keyboard.

- Ceicei

Exactly my point Ceicei.

 

[bignick]

i'm always curious...when it comes to topics like this...what would happen if he didn't invent the printing press...would we be without one...or would someone else have come up with it and we would have just had to wait a few years...

as for the most influential person of all time...i think Abraham Lincoln would be a good vote...with the america's hand in almost every global honey pot...if we would have stayed seperated would we have nearly the far reaching influence we have today?

 

[PeachMonkey]

Without Johannes, would Bill Gates even get that well known? After all, the printing press is what eventually led to the computer keyboard.

You can't even compare the contributions of Gates and Guttenburg.

I'm a fan of many Microsoft technologies, and even work for the company at times, but I don't think, no matter what your opinion, that a leader of a company that has helped define the PC industry compares with the guy who made the mass dissemination of the written word possible.

Without Bill Gates, we'd still have computers, after all.

 

[Ceicei]

Without Bill Gates, we'd still have computers, after all.

Well, yes, computers existed long before Gates took advantage of that technology to make it into a multi-billionaire business for him. I've heard rumors that he had "stolen" some ideas from another guy and ran with it.

Nevertheless, I remember when the first "personal" computers came out. The Apple I and the TRS-80. I remember the VIC-20 then Commodore64. There were probably others that came out for the public other than the Apple and before the Commodore. I remember a friend who had the IBM 5100. I had a lot of fun playing with the C64 using a regular tape cassette to record my programs. Bill Gates was an unknown to the public at that time.

- Ceicei

 

[MA-Caver]

i'm always curious...when it comes to topics like this...what would happen if he didn't invent the printing press...would we be without one...or would someone else have come up with it and we would have just had to wait a few years...
as for the most influential person of all time...i think Abraham Lincoln would be a good vote...with the america's hand in almost every global honey pot...if we would have stayed seperated would we have nearly the far reaching influence we have today?

He didn't invent it... he invented the moving typeset. Radical differences there as it was before set on a large wooden board with rails or something for the metal lettering to be placed in order (backwards) then laid flat under a huge press and a large ink roller over the letters, place the paper on top of the whole shebang and turn the screw down and TIGHT then loosen and walla! A newspaper. But I'm sure of course that's what you meant...the moving typeset.
Invention of the moving type made the process of setting and changing the letters a whole lot easier. My father worked on the semi-automated version called the linotype machine where whole words were used instead of individual lettering. He did that for twenty five sumpthin odd years and then came computers and he and hundreds of thousands across the country lost their jobs because they didn't have the necessary training/skill to do the job anymore.

As far as the most influential person... c'mon... everyone here KNOWS it's MEEEE!

Pic is the printing press I speak of (replica) the type used by Ben Franklin and probably the same type that made our BELOVED CONSITUTION!

 

[michaeledward]

Gutenberg is a good choice.

Shakespeare is also a good choice. While Mr. Bill stole many of his plot lines from previous plays and stories, his prolific output (and consolidation) is still driving story telling today.

Of course, in prior millenia, someone said 'There is nothing new under the sun'.

Mike

 

[loki09789]

i'm always curious...when it comes to topics like this...what would happen if he didn't invent the printing press...would we be without one...or would someone else have come up with it and we would have just had to wait a few years...

Historically, I think there were other 'types' (Gettit? Ha?) of presses out there. The movable type press was a refinement and improvement that made it cheaper and easier...speaking of that, what about the paper production itself? Why wouldn't the guy who made paper cheaper/easier to produce get some credit too? Without him and that paper, the price of book production would have left it in the hands of the 'haves' still.

My 'What if' question is:

What type of culture would we have if we had not developed any sophisticated written language as humans?

During the early Celtic/Gaelic civilizations they had crude Ogham marks and had to memorize constantly as part of the Bardic training (not just Musicians but priests, lawyers, teachers...). The powers of mental storage and memorization were far more important than they are now.

The "mentats" in the DUNE series are a fictionalized idea of how humans might develop the 'computer' function of the brain along these lines.

Along those lines, think about how important the 'arts' were to these types of cultural periods. The singing/poetic/performance traditions were the expressions/transmissions and preservation of the culture. Now we call these things "Pneumonic devices" but part of the 'art drive' was to codify the 'who we are' for future generations. All or partly memorized and passed on.

Would the arts be more significantly respected than they are now? Would the expressive/memorizational skills of art as communication reduce the 'fat issue' of the kids now because dance and performance would be a bigger part of their early education?

Sorry, took it way out there.

 

[PeachMonkey]

Well, yes, computers existed long before Gates took advantage of that technology to make it into a multi-billionaire business for him. I've heard rumors that he had "stolen" some ideas from another guy and ran with it.

One of those exciting rumors that has no real basis in fact. Microsoft was already a successful company when they bought QDOS, turned it into MS-DOS, and licensed it to IBM, which led to their long-term massive success and dominance in the PC field.

I had a lot of fun playing with the C64 using a regular tape cassette to record my programs. Bill Gates was an unknown to the public at that time.

I remember those days well, and Bill Gates was probably unknown to the general public, but computer hobbyists were quite familiar with Microsoft's various endeavours (and Gates' famous temper).