NICK EICHER, Host: Today is Wednesday, September 7th. good morning!this is the world and everything in it From the WORLD Radio that the listener supports. I’m Nick Iker.
Mary Lichard: I’m Mary Lichard. Truth, technology and timing. Her three elements of this journalism enterprise in WORLD. This is our founder, Joel Beltz.
JOEL BELZ, Founder: You probably wouldn’t call WORLD News Group a “tech” company. But the technology we’ve needed for over 40 years always showed up on time, and sometimes seemed designed for us.
A long time ago, the pioneer of WORLD, Presbyterian Journal, printed each issue using a linotype machine. I remember the first time I saw a linotype machine in action. Watching Metal Gear, I had no idea how this publishing tool built on the previous one.
audio: [LINOTYPE MACHINE BEING TURNED ON]
For about 500 years people tried to improve Johannes Gutenberg’s machine. Gutenberg was a German inventor and goldsmith who combined the efficiency of the printing press with the wine press.
In 1884, Baltimore German watchmaker Ottmar Margan Thaler opened the door to a different approach. Instead of manually collecting lead types, Mergenthaler’s machines now allow operators to use a keyboard. The keyboard assembled small brass molds of letters, numbers, and other characters.
audio: [TYPING ON LINOTYPE MACHINE]
The mold was then sprayed with molten lead and cooled rapidly. The result is a line of type that can be added to other lines and used to print pages.
Early on, thousands of these revolutionary new machines were installed in print shops around the world. new york times 90 amazing machines were up and running in no time. Scientist Thomas Edison called the linotype his eighth wonder of the world.
A few years later, I decided to purchase my own linotype as a tool for my college graduation. Even in the late 1950s, new linotypes sold him for $20,000, while those in A-1 condition cost him only $2,000.
Sadly, linotypes have limited durability. Even if you like machines, you can’t carelessly fall down the steep stairs in the basement. My machine would run again, but it never ran as smoothly as it did in my youth. Yet the trauma of dropping the prize typesetter made me think about God’s purpose in my life. This is always good.
We can see part of God’s purpose in technology as well. From the early church until his 1400s, the word of God was spread by quill and parchment. time The magazine named Gutenberg “The Man of the Millennium”. Over the course of about a century, Mergenthaler typesetters reduced the cost of printing pages and books (including the Bible).
But none of them can match the advent of personal computers and the digital revolution of the 1980s.
audio: [FIRST IBM PERSONAL COMPUTER]
As that revolution progresses, WORLD continues to benefit. Also includes this podcast. Clearly, God has not yet finished designing the incredible tools for spreading His truth.
My name is Joel Beltz.
WORLD Radio transcripts are produced on a tight deadline. This text may not be in final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The official recording of a WORLD Radio program is an audio recording.
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