The movable-type printing press was invented 400 years earlier in China than Europe, but failed to take off due to the high number of characters (amoung other c

The movable-type printing press was invented 400 years earlier in China than Europe, but failed to take off due to the high number of characters (amoung other complexities). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movable_type https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movable_type > The world's first movable type printing press technology for printing paper books was [...] invented in ancient China around AD 1040 by [...] Bi Sheng > Around 1450 Johannes Gutenberg made another version of a metal movable-type printing press in Europe > The printing press may be regarded as one of the key factors fostering the Renaissance and due to its effectiveness, its use spread around the globe. > The more limited number of characters needed for European languages was an important factor.