The Book was the first teaching machine

This is what McLuhan says in „Understanding Media“. Departing from an oral culture which was still dominant before Gutenberg with print this was changing. Learners became independant. There was also a change in code: from oral to visual.
Today this process has intensified with digital media.
Printed Word through reproduction had social consequences. Adressing a wider audience was possible. Today with the internet this goes even further. The reproduction process itself becomes a lot easier. I can publish independantly. Authoring is not a monopolistic matter any more.