Revolutions in Print Technology (PrinterInks)

Today, we take the act of printing for granted. Press some keys, hit a button and blamo – you’re the proud owner of a manuscript. If we think about it at all, it’s because the paper’s got jammed or the ink is dry and we fancy a grumble.

But it wasn’t always this way: in the two million years since the dawn of Homo sapiens, we’ve only had the ability to preserve our thoughts for around 5,000. Before the birth of writing, before the proto-forms of printing, ideas and knowledge would be lost – spoken from one person to another before vanishing into the ether.

Our modern ability to print arose as a means of saving and spreading our ideas. Without these early methods, there would be no such thing as medical science, no such thing as organised religion, no such thing as literature. Our world would be a very different place.

Below, PrinterInks invite you to take a journey through time with this scrolling interactive timeline. From the first flickering of human consciousness to our globalised present; via the creation of the printing press, the earliest human scripts and the development of modern type. It’s a journey of ideas; a tour through our collective consciousness – culminating with a brief look into the future. The story begins now…

*Click here to view the infographic.

Image Courtesy of PrinterInks