The following is a food for thought moment, brought to you by @SIGEPJEDI. Call it a connection of the present and future to that of our historic past. This is specifically for all you old media types out there who have yet to connect the dots. Today I wont be connecting any of those dots for you, just sharing what goes on in my brain.
Above is an image of The Gutenberg Bible printed by Johannes Gutenberg of Mainz, Germany in 1455. Gutenberg’s true achievement was not The Bible, but proving the process of printing actually produced books.
The production of The Gutenberg Bible marked the beginning of mass production of books in the West, and has iconic status as the start of the “Age of the Printed Book”. The first printing press and movable types were used in creating copies of the book.
The printing press turned out to be a great success though suprisingly NOT because people wanted to read. In fact, in 1455 NOBODY COULD READ! In the 1450’s the catholic church needed money so they printed indulgences, which were forgiveness’s. They printed millions of these pieces of paper, selling them to sinners in every town and village. Washing away sins and driving great demand for printing presses, and books (or printed paper really).
553 Years Later.
Fast forward to present day, 553 years later, to the year 2008. The printing press is still very much alive, though some may argue its fading existance, and we all have a few books around. As the digital world begins to replace processes over 500 years old, it is interesting to ponder the potential key to social media’s acceptance.
Currency.
Today, as I see it, the currency of Social Media is the wealth of knowledge right at our digital fingertips. With an entire new set of digital ‘printing presses’ being used to spread messages far and wide. The focus may always be on money, but hopefully after all this time we can focus more on the wealth of knowledge than revenue generation. As companies like Twitter hunt for a moneymaker I propose they awaken to a realization of the wealth already flowing through their system.