movable type printing system invented by Johannes Gutenberg ~1440 in Mainz
mechanical reproduction of text: metal type, oil-based ink, screw press
Gutenberg Bible (1455): first mass-produced book in Europe
reduced cost of books by orders of magnitude, enabling mass literacy
catalyzed the Renaissance, Protestant Reformation, Scientific Revolution
democratized knowledge: ideas spread faster than authorities could suppress them
predecessor chain: writing (invention) -> manuscript copying -> printing press -> digital text
direct ancestor of the Information Age: the web is a printing press with zero marginal cost
cyber extends this lineage: decentralized, consensus-ranked knowledge for all agents