Many scholars of print culture, as well as classicists, have argued that inconsistencies existed among manuscripts due to the blind copying of texts and a static manuscript culture that (specifically medieval manuscript culture) existed during the rise of the printing press. They have stated that once a mistake was made, it would be repeated endlessly and compounded with further mistakes by refusing to deviate from the previous exemplar, thus exposing an obvious advantage of print.
This argument has been put forth by numerous scholars of printed culture, as well as classical studies experts, who have noted discrepancies among manuscripts stemming from the mechanical copying of texts and a rigid manuscript tradition that dominated during the emergence of the printing press. They argue that errors made during this process would be perpetuated and amplified as subsequent copies were made without deviating from the preceding text.