Before His Time

Johannes Gutenberg— of bible and printing press fame— died penniless a few years after bringing the most amazing, disruptive, transformative technology to market. The main reason: the vast majority of people at the time— his potential clients— didn’t know how to read.

The lesser-known reason: the majority of public school teachers across Stroudsburg, Germany– his home at the time– panicked because they saw the tech as a cheating tool– one that would lead kids to plagiarize. Plus, all anyone could talk about at the local sausage farm was how many monks would lose their jobs.

[Sad German nodding.]

Eventually, though, the church figured out other ways to keep monks busy (and thankfully, quiet). And the pedagogical tide turned… and educators stopped trying to keep books out of classrooms.

[Happy German cheers.]

Ok, I made that up. Public education wasn’t a thing yet. And sausage farms were regional, not local. Duh!

The worst (real) thing that actually happened in the 1440s related to the printing press was that the scribes of Paris went on strike to protest the innovation. Which just meant less French literature.

Not a big loss.

At least not as big as say… a Hollywood writer’s strike.

See…. History might repeat itself but each time it does, it gets dumberer.

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What can we in business learn from it all?

Lesson #1: If you build it, they probably won’t come. They might not even be able to find you on a map. Even if you post directions. Because… you know… who the hell knows how to read a map anymore?

Waze has made our brains go soft! A recent study by Omni Consumer Products* estimates that 76% of drivers using GPS would drive into the ocean if their phone instructed them to.

[Ok, I made that up too. But… to be fair… I’m pretty sure that I personally would be a half-tire-deep into the water before second-guessing my bestest friend ever.]

Lesson #2: Proof of Adoption beats Proof of Concept every time. If you don’t know what I’m talking about read this and this.

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Oh, and the larger life lesson from Gutenberg gifting the world with his genius and dying penniless:

By today’s standards, he was “before his time.”

Just sayin’.

* Footnote: Omni Consumer Products has only had one successful output to date: Robocop.