Reply To: Inventions that Matter

laskern-“Paper to write seforim and printing press to print it.”

-And ink/writing utensil . Actually reading and writing in general is just a huge factor of leading up to the world as we know it. Years back many people didnt even know how to read or write which nowadays we really take for granted. Writing down information and keeping track of records is a big step towards growing and learning from past mistakes. Any innovation requires these skills.
Aside from not attaining these skills, ink and paper was very scarce. Today we have paper in abundance and pens galore. Much more convenient than ink and quill .

Although the Jewish people were always advanced in this as we know the Torah was written thousands of years ago and the Jewish people have studied it and written commentary throughout the generations.
I only wonder though was Torah she’bealpeh handed down through oral tradition because of scarce resources or due to the simple folk not being adequate in reading? Or maybe a little bit of both?
Also in contrast to nowadays where we are accustomed to see many seforim and take it for granted, would Yidden back in the day jump in excitement when they came across a sefer since printed material was so scarce?