About telegraph
This timeline is provided to help show how the dominant form of communication changes as rapidly as innovators develop new technologies
The printing press was the big innovation in communications until the telegraph was developed. Printing remained the key format for mass messages for years afterward, but the telegraph allowed instant communication over vast distances for the first time in human history. Telegraph usage faded as radio became easy to use and popularized; as radio was being developed, the telephone quickly became the fastest way to communicate person-to-person; after television was perfected and content for it was well developed, it became the dominant form of mass-communication technology; the internet came next, and newspapers, radio, telephones, and television are being rolled into this far-reaching information medium.
Prior to the telegraph, communication in the 1830s was about the same as it had been in the years just after Gutenberg's invention of the printing press. It took days, weeks, and even months for messages to be sent from one location to a far-flung position. After the telegraph cable was stretched from coast to coast in the 1850s, a message from London to New York could be sent in mere minutes, and the world suddenly became much smaller.
Prior to the telegraph, politics and business were constrained by geography. The world was divided into isolated regions. There was limited knowledge of national or international news, and that which was shared was generally quite dated. After the telegraph, the world changed. It seemed as if information could flow like water.
By the 1850s, predictions about the impact of the new medium began to abound. The telegraph would alter business and politics. It would make the world smaller, erase national rivalries and contribute to the establishment of world peace. It would make newspapers obsolete. All of the same statements were made in the 1990s by people who were wowed by the first-blush potential of the Internet.
Prior to the telegraph, politics and business were constrained by geography. The world was divided into isolated regions. There was limited knowledge of national or international news, and that which was shared was generally quite dated. After the telegraph, the world changed. It seemed as if information could flow like water.
By the 1850s, predictions about the impact of the new medium began to abound. The telegraph would alter business and politics. It would make the world smaller, erase national rivalries and contribute to the establishment of world peace. It would make newspapers obsolete. All of the same statements were made in the 1990s by people who were wowed by the first-blush potential of the Internet.
In the boom of the 1920s, people rushed to buy radios, and business and social structures adapted to the new medium. Universities began to offer radio-based courses; churches began broadcasting their services; newspapers created tie-ins with radio broadcasts.
By 1922 there were 576 licensed radio broadcasters and the publication Radio Broadcast was launched, breathlessly announcing that in the age of radio, "government will be a living thing to its citizens instead of an abstract and unseen force."
As with television in later years, however, entertainment came to rule the radio waves much more than governmental or educational content, as commercial sponsors wanted the airtime they paid for to have large audiences. Most listeners enjoyed hearing their favorite music, variety programs that included comic routines and live bands, and serial comedies and dramas. Broadcasts of major sports events became popular as the medium matured and remote broadcasts became possible.
Radio was a key lifeline of information for the masses in the years of World War II. Listeners around the world sat transfixed before their radio sets as vivid reports of battles, victories, and defeats were broadcast by reporters including H.V. Kaltenborn and Edward R. Murrow. Franklin D. Roosevelt (at right), Winston Churchill, Adolph Hitler and other political leaders used the medium to influence public opinion.
By 1922 there were 576 licensed radio broadcasters and the publication Radio Broadcast was launched, breathlessly announcing that in the age of radio, "government will be a living thing to its citizens instead of an abstract and unseen force."
As with television in later years, however, entertainment came to rule the radio waves much more than governmental or educational content, as commercial sponsors wanted the airtime they paid for to have large audiences. Most listeners enjoyed hearing their favorite music, variety programs that included comic routines and live bands, and serial comedies and dramas. Broadcasts of major sports events became popular as the medium matured and remote broadcasts became possible.
Radio was a key lifeline of information for the masses in the years of World War II. Listeners around the world sat transfixed before their radio sets as vivid reports of battles, victories, and defeats were broadcast by reporters including H.V. Kaltenborn and Edward R. Murrow. Franklin D. Roosevelt (at right), Winston Churchill, Adolph Hitler and other political leaders used the medium to influence public opinion.
Within 50 years of its invention, the telephone had become an indispensable tool in the United States. In the late 19th century, people raved about the telephone's positive aspects and ranted about what they anticipated would be negatives. Their key points, recorded by Ithiel de Sola Pool in his 1983 book "Forecasting the Telephone," mirror nearly precisely what was later predicted about the impact of the internet.
For example, people said the telephone would: help further democracy; be a tool for grassroots organizers; lead to additional advances in networked communications; allow social decentralization, resulting in a movement out of cities and more flexible work arrangements; change marketing and politics; alter the ways in which wars are fought; cause the postal service to lose business; open up new job opportunities; allow more public feedback; make the world smaller, increasing contact between peoples of all nations and thus fostering world peace; increase crime and aid criminals; be an aid for physicians, police, fire, and emergency workers; be a valuable tool for journalists; bring people closer together, decreasing loneliness and building new communities; inspire a decline in the art of writing; have an impact on language patterns and introduce new words; and someday lead to an advanced form of the transmission of intelligence.
Privacy was also a major concern. As is the case with the Internet, the telephone worked to improve privacy while simultaneously leaving people open to invasions of their privacy. In the beginning days of the telephone, people would often have to journey to the local general store or some other central point to be able to make and receive calls. Most homes weren't wired together, and eavesdroppers could hear you conduct your personal business as you used a public phone. Switchboard operators who connected the calls would also regularly invade people's privacy. The early house-to-house phone systems were often "party lines" on which a number of families would receive calls, and others were free to listen in and often chose to do so.
Today, while most homes are wired and people can travel freely, conducting their phone conversations wirelessly, wiretapping and other surveillance methods can be utilized to listen in on their private business. People's privacy can also be interrupted by unwanted phone calls from telemarketers and others who wish to profit in some way - just as Internet e-mail accounts receive unwanted sales pitches, known as "spam."
Yet, the invention of the telephone also worked to increase privacy in many ways. It permitted people to exchange information without having to put it in writing, and a call on the phone came to replace such intrusions on domestic seclusion as unexpected visits from relatives or neighbors and the pushy patter of door-to-door salesmen. The same could be said for the Internet - privacy has been enhanced in some ways because e-mail and instant messaging have reduced the frequency of the jangling interruptions previously dished out by our telephones.
For example, people said the telephone would: help further democracy; be a tool for grassroots organizers; lead to additional advances in networked communications; allow social decentralization, resulting in a movement out of cities and more flexible work arrangements; change marketing and politics; alter the ways in which wars are fought; cause the postal service to lose business; open up new job opportunities; allow more public feedback; make the world smaller, increasing contact between peoples of all nations and thus fostering world peace; increase crime and aid criminals; be an aid for physicians, police, fire, and emergency workers; be a valuable tool for journalists; bring people closer together, decreasing loneliness and building new communities; inspire a decline in the art of writing; have an impact on language patterns and introduce new words; and someday lead to an advanced form of the transmission of intelligence.
Privacy was also a major concern. As is the case with the Internet, the telephone worked to improve privacy while simultaneously leaving people open to invasions of their privacy. In the beginning days of the telephone, people would often have to journey to the local general store or some other central point to be able to make and receive calls. Most homes weren't wired together, and eavesdroppers could hear you conduct your personal business as you used a public phone. Switchboard operators who connected the calls would also regularly invade people's privacy. The early house-to-house phone systems were often "party lines" on which a number of families would receive calls, and others were free to listen in and often chose to do so.
Today, while most homes are wired and people can travel freely, conducting their phone conversations wirelessly, wiretapping and other surveillance methods can be utilized to listen in on their private business. People's privacy can also be interrupted by unwanted phone calls from telemarketers and others who wish to profit in some way - just as Internet e-mail accounts receive unwanted sales pitches, known as "spam."
Yet, the invention of the telephone also worked to increase privacy in many ways. It permitted people to exchange information without having to put it in writing, and a call on the phone came to replace such intrusions on domestic seclusion as unexpected visits from relatives or neighbors and the pushy patter of door-to-door salesmen. The same could be said for the Internet - privacy has been enhanced in some ways because e-mail and instant messaging have reduced the frequency of the jangling interruptions previously dished out by our telephones.
The pace of innovation and improvements in television and other information technologies developed in the United States over the past 100 years has been rapid, thanks to a confluence of several factors: the competitive atmosphere of the free-market economy; the laid-back role of government, which is a watchdog thus far preventing wholesale monopolies; and the spirit of invention and entrepreneurship prevalent in U.S. society.
Because other nations usually have had some sort of government control of communications technologies, they have not developed as much quality program content for television over the decades. Regulation stifled creativity and constrained production, and the economics of regulation created a situation in which producers of U.S. programming found themselves making broadcast content for the entire world.
The worldwide success of the freewheeling U.S. film and television industries over the course of the 20th century has spread images of the American culture - good and bad - to the most-distant corners of the planet. It has made entertainment one of the nation's most lucrative and influential exports.
Because other nations usually have had some sort of government control of communications technologies, they have not developed as much quality program content for television over the decades. Regulation stifled creativity and constrained production, and the economics of regulation created a situation in which producers of U.S. programming found themselves making broadcast content for the entire world.
The worldwide success of the freewheeling U.S. film and television industries over the course of the 20th century has spread images of the American culture - good and bad - to the most-distant corners of the planet. It has made entertainment one of the nation's most lucrative and influential exports.
World Changes Due to the Internet
After Berners-Lee brought his "World-Wide Web" to life in 1990, and Andreessen launched Mosaic, the revolutionary browser, in 1993, the Internet had an estimated 16 million users by 1995, and venture capitalists were busy full-time, funding hundreds of new Internet-related business concerns. Individuals all over the world are sharing their interests, hopes and dreams online, and the number of internet users is nearing a billion.
Thanks to the work of thousands of collaborators over the final four decades of the 20th century, today's Internet is a continually expanding worldwide network of computer networks for the transport of myriad types of data. In addition to the names above, there were direct contributions from Ivan Sutherland, Robert Taylor, Alex McKenzie, Frank Heart, Jon Postel, Eric Bina, Robert Cailliau, Tom Jennings, Mark Horton, Bill Joy, Douglas Engelbart, Bill Atkinson, Ted Nelson, Linus Torvalds, Richard Stallman and so many others - some of them anonymous hackers or users - it is impossible to include them all.
Wireless satellite and broadband communications networks are helping people in even the most remote locations find ways to connect. Overcoming the initial concerns that commercialization would limit creativity or freedom of speech, the Internet has become a crazy-quilt mix of commercial sites, government information, and incredibly interesting pages built by individuals who want to share their insights.
The number of people making Internet pages continues to grow. As of mid-2004, more than 63 million domain names had been registered, approximately one for every 100 people living in the world.
After Berners-Lee brought his "World-Wide Web" to life in 1990, and Andreessen launched Mosaic, the revolutionary browser, in 1993, the Internet had an estimated 16 million users by 1995, and venture capitalists were busy full-time, funding hundreds of new Internet-related business concerns. Individuals all over the world are sharing their interests, hopes and dreams online, and the number of internet users is nearing a billion.
Thanks to the work of thousands of collaborators over the final four decades of the 20th century, today's Internet is a continually expanding worldwide network of computer networks for the transport of myriad types of data. In addition to the names above, there were direct contributions from Ivan Sutherland, Robert Taylor, Alex McKenzie, Frank Heart, Jon Postel, Eric Bina, Robert Cailliau, Tom Jennings, Mark Horton, Bill Joy, Douglas Engelbart, Bill Atkinson, Ted Nelson, Linus Torvalds, Richard Stallman and so many others - some of them anonymous hackers or users - it is impossible to include them all.
Wireless satellite and broadband communications networks are helping people in even the most remote locations find ways to connect. Overcoming the initial concerns that commercialization would limit creativity or freedom of speech, the Internet has become a crazy-quilt mix of commercial sites, government information, and incredibly interesting pages built by individuals who want to share their insights.
The number of people making Internet pages continues to grow. As of mid-2004, more than 63 million domain names had been registered, approximately one for every 100 people living in the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment