I got thinking about the printing press and its impact on history, it is an extremely simple but important invention. So what if it had been invented at the earliest point possible. Say a ingenious Sumerian scribe in Ur invents it
Here is an earlier thread that I found by searching
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=93628&highlight=printing+press
That thread gets tied up too much in ancient Mesopotamia though. My question is what if the printing press spread, like the invention of writing itself, and other culture adopt it, creating versions for their own langauges. The printing press spreads out from Mesopotamia to Persia, Egypt, Phoenicia, Anatolia, Greece, India and China, so by say the 1500 BC the printing press was firmly attached with writing, in whatever langauge it was used for.
What would be the long term effects of this technology being present and available at such an early point in history? From a technological, economic and social point of view (e.g. Industrial Revolution in 200 BC? Enlightenment in AD 500? Atomic power by 1000? Or most extreme or moderate changes.)
This isn't about how its spread, that is largely irrelevent and it isn't attached to a specific language (though it may be if you see a specific power far more successful with it), what matters is the impact on human development.
I know this is an extremely early POD, so I guess a certain amount of creativity is necessary, don't hesitate to speculate as widely as you like.
