Comment by JumpCrisscross
16 hours ago
> why didn't China, which invented printing press earlier, didn't fare better?
Moveable type was invented in the 11th century [1]. Kublai Khan moved in in the 13th. Then the Mings spent a couple centuries being autocratic menaces, Qianlong went on a pogrom of China's scholars and Europe caught up.
By the 13th century, China–uniquely–had both moveable-type presses and joint-stock companies. A combination of bad luck (the Mongols) and a tendency towards political shitshows squandered that lead.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_printing_in_East_As...
Yeah, we tend to forget that progress unfortunately doesn't move steadily in one direction...