In 1450, a German blacksmith, goldsmith, printer and publisher, Johannes Gutenberg was searching for a way to automate printing. He observed that different types of presses, particularly coin stampers and wine presses, not only allowed direct pressure to be applied to a surface, but they also imparted a shape to it
Improve the efficiency of recording words and information
Recording words and information generally required them to be laboriously handwritten
The efficiency of recording text through printing was revolutionized by adapting the operation of a press so that it imparted an ink-containing pattern of letters onto a paper surface The receiving surface retained the text of letters that were impressed into it in precisely defined shapes simultaneously
Being alert to the needs of people for greater ease and convenience can be the trigger for an innovative solution. The perseverance of Johannes Gutenberg led to the invention of the printing press
Breeding Comment
Generalizing from a specific observation or experience and then specializing from there to a specific application in a different setting is the secret behind idea breeding. Johannes Gutenberg associated more broadly from the capability of a cloth press to impart a non-specific shape onto a flat surface and, in so doing, was able to breed a printing press that had the capability to impart text characters onto paper