Week 1: History of Communication

I think it is great how advanced we have come since the telephone. In class today, we watched many mini-documentaries about the history and development of the telephone to what it is today. From a box that was connected to other boxes by wavelength-carrying wires, we now all own cell phones that have a clarity and functionality that would have seemed impossible during the first decades of the development telephone. This is the same way the Internet works today. First, computers were large processors that were limited in function. But, these computers became smaller, more efficient, and even started becoming connected to each other through systems of networks. Even these network systems have gone through much revision. But today, we have computers and systems that are advanced beyond the comprehension of someone who would have been involved with the first computers or networks. As computers and the Internet has become more advanced, people have accustomed to receive and share information on a much faster scale than what it used to be like in the past. As the Internet gets faster, media gets faster-paced. For example, commercials are now able to systematically share a complicated and effective message with million of people using 30-seconds or less of audio and visual material. Today, even the content of said commercials is faster-paced. It is fascinating to examine the change in the pace of content of the world’s media over decades from the written word the radio to the television to the Internet. I wonder what is going to be the next innovative stepping-stone in the world of communication?