La plume, le plomb et la puce

Pen, Print and Pentium
Nicole Morgan reminds us here of the intense criticisism which was leveled at the invention of Gutenberg. Contemporaries charged that profit-motivated printing press operators would put hastily manufactured, faulty editions into circulation, that they would diffuse immoral texts outside the control of ecclesiastical authorities and that knowledge itself would be corrupted by divulging it to the ignorant.
While taking account of the controversy aroused by that invention, she draws a parallel in polemics which today are provoked by the rise of electronic communications. In the eyes of their detractors, these will substitute for the art of the writer a telegraphic language which will diminish individual creativity, impose a uniformity of spirit, and instead of informing will make people stupid.
In passing, however, she underscores the important power stakes that are involved and how much advantage can be gained by those who take advantage of the diffusion of thought. In particular, she reminds us of the critical role played by printing and publishing in the advancement of democracy.