I regard this as being an analog to the difference between Columbus and all of the previous encounters with the Western Hemisphere, it was Columbus that made the ‘discovery’ permanent. Yes, there were earlier seafarers like the Vikings and others BUT it was the Columbus voyages and the technology of his era that made his the last ‘discovery’!
The same applies to the Gutenberg SYSTEM development, the press, the metallurgy for the type, the paper & binding for the pamphlets & books AND the burgeoning wealth & literacy that created the market. What tends to be forgotten is that the examples from Asia came from monolithic cultures where there was little incentive to grow this technology. In the mid-1400s Europe, with religious wars being propagandized (consider Luther’s attack on PRINTED indulgences) and multiple polities as well as the growing literacy in Europe, the Gutenberg Press was a spark against dry tinder!
A query; Would Columbus’ and his follow-on explorers been the same level of permanency WITHOUT the Gutenberg to publicize it?
Gutenberg’s press hit right at the right time in the right place, and wasn’t just some kind of toy for some royal court.
The first known use of movable type was on the Phaistos Disk, btw. :^)