In the case of printing, the result over the following century or two was a rise in literacy rates (in the common languages, and this is when German, French, and English, for example, largely solidified into their current forms, viz. the Luther Bible, the King James Version, etc.). And the Protestant Reformation was built on printed words and on the people's ability to directly read the religious texts.

A technology undermined the state and the church.

This is why I still bother reading Tim May's posts. Every now and then he comes up with a good one. In response to this I'd point out that it would have been easy (and wrong) to say that, "The Printing Press, The telescope, town clocks and Protestantism will reduce the power of the church to the point where it will collapse." (Actually, many educated catholics probably thought this at the time.) And although the Catholic church did lose power on many fronts, it by no means dissappeared. (You could almost say it propered, but probably by virtue of the fact that it might be the single largest real estate dealer in the world.) _________________________________________________________________ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail