go to previous page   go to home page   go to next page hear noise

Answer:


Simplicity

Carving a block of wood into a book page requires great technical and artistic skill. The task is complex and labor intensive. A small mistake might ruin the whole block. The Renaissance woodcarvers were as skilled as woodcarvers ever have been.

Setting type is easy. Little artistic or technical skill is needed. Individual pieces of type are just dropped into place. The method is robust and reliable; mistakes can be corrected. The type can be reused many times.

Advances in technology often lead to easy ways to do previously difficult tasks. Woodcarving is complex; setting type is easy. Building special-purpose electronic equipment is complex; programming a general-purpose computer is (relatively) easy.

The computer revolution (ca. 1950–) is often compared to the Gutenberg revolution (ca. 1450–).


QUESTION 5:

Which is easier to do: (a) determine exactly how bright a light is, or (b) decide if it is on or off?


go to previous page   go to home page   go to next page