In 14-hundred something, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, adapting the process of German wineries in which grapes were squeezed with a mechanical squishing press to turn them into wine. It was just a simple matter of putting letters in place and squeezing ink onto paper with them.
In 1876, Baltimore's Ottmar Mergenthaler invented the movable type type of printing press. His machines were the size of small Buicks, and enabled newspapers to be printed by the millions and delivered by people driving Buicks.
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| "Hold the press!" said Gutenberg. |
There's a fine vocational high school here in Baltimore, dedicated to teaching people a worthwhile trade. It's appropriately named Mervo Tech, formally Mergenthaler Vocational Technical High School.
It says here that if you found Gutenberg's original press, or the first Mergenthaler linotype machine, with a little WD-40 and a dust cloth, you could get them up and running in a jiffy. Whereas, the printer I bought for my desk PC just a couple of years ago gave up the ghost yesterday. Told to print something, it gave a "out of paper" signal, even though the print tray was stuffed with papers like a congressman's wallet.
I un-installed and re-installed it. I plugged it out and plugged it in. I cleaned the paper feed rollers. I tried an online analysis (result? "No problem") and I talked to it nicely, all to Noah Vale.
The new one was to be on our porch between 4 and 8 this morning. Full circle moment, if a Mervo guy delivers it in a Buick.
Let's see if it lasts a couple of years.
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