Plato argued writing would weaken memory and reduce authentic knowledge due to readers relying on text rather than personal recollection. 

Plato, Phaedrus, 370 BCE 

Ancient historians like Pliny saw papyrus as fragile compared to stone or clay tablets, considering it unworthy of capturing important information. 

Pliny the Elder, Natural History, 77 CE 

Traditionalists favored scrolls over codices, seeing codex books as unorthodox and used mainly by controversial fringe groups, like early Christians. 

Augustine, Confessions, 397 CE 

Renaissance critics argued that linear perspective, by reducing art to mathematical proportions, distorted the “true” divine nature of images. 

Panofsky, Erwin. Perspective as Symbolic Form, 1927 

Religious and governmental authorities, especially during the Council of Trent, feared the press would weaken control over knowledge. 

Febvre, Lucien, & Henri-Jean Martin. The Coming of the Book, 1976 

Printmaking was seen as secondary to painting and sculpture, often dismissed as an art form for its supposed lack of originality. 

Ivins, William M. Prints and Visual Communication, 1953 

Early oil painting critics favored tempera for its quick drying and matte finish, viewing oil paints as overly indulgent and distracting. 

Vasari, Giorgio. Lives of the Artists, 1550 

Photography was initially dismissed by artists and critics like Baudelaire, who called it a “mechanical” and “soulless” imitation of real art. 

Baudelaire, Charles. The Salon of 1859, 1859 

Writers initially resisted typewriters, arguing they removed the intimacy and craftsmanship of handwriting with pen and paper. 

Twain, Mark. The Autobiography of Mark Twain, 1924