Nick Finck references the creation of the printing press by Gutenberg as a similar phenomena to the proliferance of the internet. He goes on to say that although the Printing press opened the world up to some to be heard, the internet is available to all and that the Internet is a more democratizing invention than the printing press was.

Yes and No. The printing press was adopted by hundreds of people and cheaply printed materials were disseminated across Europe. Previously, only scholars, monks and the extremely wealthy were educated to read and only the monks and scribes had access to copy books. Once the proliferation of presses and printed material came about, the average person or family could own a book or two - most likely the bible, and they could learn to read as well.

So while the Internet has allowed everyone and their brother (who can afford a computer) to be a publisher and to have a voice, the printing press brought knowledge and reading to many more people and in much the same way as today - only those with a certain threshold of money could actually speak (publish).

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http://www.nickfinck.com/journal.html
see the Tuesday, November 20, 2001 entry.