Watching the film, “The Machine That Made Us.” Then respond to the following prompt. When people think about writing and technology they often think of Gutenberg’s printing press. While the printing press has certainly had a significant effect on the shape and direction of writing, it is really the alphabet and writing itself as a technology that has shaped humankind. One of the things people thought the printing press would do is democratize1 access to the technology of writing. More recently, people thought widespread use of computers would democratize access to the technology of writing (and all that this might make possible). In what ways have/haven’t these two machines (printing press and computer) lead to the democratization of the written word and all that enables us to do?
