Skip to main content Who invented the internet? > >
Universal Encyclopedia

Who invented the internet?

Gutenberg collapsed the cost of copying. The internet collapsed the cost of distribution — the same shockwave, five hundred and fifty years later.

The short answer

Gutenberg’s press collapsed the cost of copying a page. Five and a half centuries later, the internet collapsed the cost of distributing one — to everyone, instantly, for nearly nothing. This is the second printing press, and its shockwave is the one you are living inside.

The full file

Encyclopedia

Read the full file

Gutenberg collapsed the cost of copying. The internet collapsed the cost of distribution — the same shockwave, five hundred and fifty years later.…

Related questions

More from the Bureau

All questionsFactbookRankings

Across the Bureau

The first storytellers: Aboriginal Australia — HistoryAda Lovelace: the first programmerSeeds of power: the Neolithic Revolution — HistoryAfghanistan — Country ProfileAlbania — Country ProfileAlgeria — Country ProfileHistory of Afghanistan — TimelineHistory of Albania — Timeline