Printing was reinvented in 15th century Europe. Development was slow until Johannes Gutenberg made several improvements. In the next century print became the main means of communication between people who needed to keep precise records. With an alphabetic system of writing, print was much more economical than copying, and permitted many times as many copies to be available. This revolution in information technology helped all aspects of life in Europe, at a time when Europe was becoming the dominant region of the world.