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Consider the origins and subsequent changes to media practices and media technologies by making a timeline of media history. Identify up to five (5) key technological inventions and consider their cultural implications. Keep in mind the ecology of media. Through this research, you will outline major trends and debates in media studies paying particular attention to the distinct relationship between media history/theory/technology and other forms of social history/theory/technology. You will be asked to map out connections among these areas to show how both theory and technology emerge in historical patterns.
Click the "Read More" link to view our timeline and analysis.
TIMELINE
Telephone
1876
Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray, were two inventors who fought for the honour of being known as the inventor of the telephone; as their submissions to the patents were merely hours apart. However, as it is known today, Alexander Graham Bell won that race. The telephone was officially created by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. Bell was able to transmit his voice to his assistant, Thomas Watson, who was in the next room, through the telephone. Thus the famous phrase was born, “Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you.” (Bell, March of 1876).
In its infancy, the telephone first required a direct line to make a call, however the development of the switchboard was invented in 1878 to facilitate communication. Following this in the 1880’s long distance services were created and grew using metallic circuits. As the telephone grew more popular, people continued to improve it. In 1915, everyone in the US was able to be connected to each other, which had obvious public reaction.
As there is with any invention, the telephone brought upon positive and negative social reactions. After the telephone was made public and more accessible to the people, it was open to public ridicule. A positive aspect that came with the invention of the telephone was the public’s freedom to access more information by using operators, as well as being able to connect with other people without having to leave their home. Another benefit was that people were able to make emergency calls when needed. Prior to the telephone if one needed a doctor, one would send a messenger out and hope that any situation was not critical. In addition, the telephone benefitted everyone by providing a service that facilitated communication between more people. No one who had a telephone had to leave their home to send out news to their loved ones. However, with a good social reaction comes paranoia.
Like every other revolutionary invention, the telephone attracted a lot of paranoia and negative reactions from the public. A negative aspect that arose with the invention was that people were scared that things spoken over the phone could not stay secret, because they thought that there was someone always listening in to their every conversation. When telephone poles and wires were put up in cities, society did not like the look of having wires and poles up all over the city; they thought it made the city look ugly. Finally, some claim that prior to the telephone, life was simpler. There are some that find it too bothersome to press extension numbers to reach a specific person, or to solve an inquiry.
Overall, the telephone revolutionized the way people communicate. Alexander Graham Bell’s invention aided in providing quicker service and in allowing for long distance communication. On the other hand, the telephone also raised public paranoia. As it would be with any invention the telephone caused quite a social revolution when it was invented and made accessible to the public, however as we look upon it from a present point of view, the telephone was one of the most important inventions that helped our society grow.
Television
1926
The invention of the television dates back to the 1800s, where the first modules were being produced, but it was not until 1926 when inventor Charles Jenkins created the first ever mechanical television system, which was widely sold and produced by 1931. In 1934, television was converted into an electronic system. This system is still being used today.
Compact Discs
1980s
The compact disc was created collaboratively by Sony and Philips in the 1980's in Germany as a means of recording digital files. The first disc created could hold 74 minutes of audio and primarily contained classical music recordings . Compact discs were sold in retail stores for the first time in November 1982 targeting an upper class consumer due to it's high price. The technology became increasingly popular and has since sold over 200 billion across the world.
The CD was only the beginning of many formats to come. From the CD, the CD-ROM and the PhotoCD for storing more than audio files emerged. After wards, the technology was not only used for audio music files but for audio books, educational computer games and information storage.
The invention of the CD started a culture of information sharing before the internet became mainstream. It was the end of analogue and the beginning of digital recording mediums.
Text Messaging (Cellphones)
1983
The first cellular network was developed in Tokyo, Japan in 1979. The United States was not far behind, launching their first successful cellular telephone system in 1983. Soon, the technology became popular leading to developments refining and expanding the possibilities for the cellular telephone with picture and video messages. What came next revolutionized the medium: the text message.
The text message provided a medium of connectivity that was relatable to by youth. A phone call or an e-mail is time consuming and often demands thought, manners, meaningful content and purpose. Adolescents often lack the motivation to do these things. The text message opened up the medium of the cell phone to these teens. The sharing of meaningless, humourous, even lewd thoughts has since been in constant stream. The invention of the text message foreshadowed the future to come: an endless stream of mundane information from people across the globe.
2004
Facebook was created 2003 by Mark Zuckerberg along with help of his friends and roommates Chris Hughes and Dustin Moskovitz it was originally created as “Facemash” and was created as a way to get his mind off his crush while in his sophomore year at Harvard.
Facemash originally placed two photos of undergraduates side by side, and asking the viewers which one is “hotter”. The site was originally only for Harvard, but quickly grew to other colleges, then high schools and finally for anyone over age 13. However, as soon as Hardvard administrators found out about it, it was quickly shut down and Zuckerberg was charged and faced expulsion for breaching privacy. Later on, Harvard dropped their charges against Zuckerberg and the following semester Facemash was recreated as The Facebook in February 2004. In 2005 the “the” was dropped from the URL. A year after they launched their high school version, they opened it up to the public for everybody over the age of 13.
In February 2009, Facebook changed their privacy policy, causing an up roar along the way. They made it so that their users once upload data onto their servers, that they own all the rights. Even after the user deletes their account. Many users got upset by this, and entered a debate that was all over the internet. To do damage control they switched back to their old policies, though they are in the middle of rewriting them again. It is currently the number one social network with MySpace and Twitter both behind it. They have over 175 million active users worldwide currently and is growing every day.
Wrap-Up and Analysis
For our timeline, we chose to focus on technological innovations and advancements over the years. We looked at the telephone, television, compact discs, cellphones and text messages, and the most modern of social mediums, Facebook. Each of us was able to research a technology of our choosing, and share our findings with the other members of our group. We were then able to piece these innovations together into a timeline, representing the evolution of technology and social media over the past one hundred and thirty (or so) years.
We learned some surprising facts through our research. For example, we were previously unaware that another innovator, Elisha Gray, had also discovered the “telephone” and submitted patent information mere hours after Alexander Graham Bell. Another surprising fact was that the invention of the television actually began in the late 1800s. We were surprised to learn that the first cellular telephone networks were around as early as 1979. And although many of us are regular Facebook visitors, few know the actual history of the website, such as the fact that it started life as a “hot or not” service for Harvard Students.
It is interesting to see how quickly technology has advanced in the last century. The telephone was first invented in 1876, and a mere hundred years later, we were holding miniature versions of the device in our hands, and calling people with no wires attached. The television first came into existence in 1928, and by 2008, we could hold as many movies and TV shows as we wanted in the palm of our hand. It is also important to note that many of these “old” or “outdated” technologies are still around today. People worried that cellphones would replace landline phones. But many homes still have a landline phone in them today. People are still wondering if MP3’s will replace CD’s, or if the internet will replace cable TV. But so far, TV and internet, and CD’s and MP3’s, have managed to co-exist in harmony. Now we pose a new question: Can you envision a reality, in which people never interact face-to-face, but simply via. Facebook?
Works Cited
Klosterman, Chuck. "Invention's New Mother." Esquire 145.3 (2006): 124-126. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 11 Oct. 2010.
"Cellular telephone." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition (2009): 1. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 11 Oct. 2010.
"The History Of Facebook." October 11, 2010. Web. October 11, 2010. http://www.webhostingreport.com/learn/facebook.html
Ament, Phil. "Telephone History - Invention of the Telephone." The Great Idea Finder - Celebrating the Spirit of Innovation. 11 Jan. 2006. Web. 10 Oct. 2010. http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/telephone.htm
Schoelles, Leah. "Telephone History Social Reaction." Schoelles Home Page. Dec. 2001. Web. 10 Oct. 2010. http://www.schoelles.com/Telephone/telsocial.htm
BBC News. “Compact Disc Hits 25th Birthday .” BBC News . N.p., 17 Aug. 2007. Web. 11 Oct. 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/
Pohlmann, Ken C. The Compact Disk Handbook: Second Edition . Wisconsin : A-R Editions , 1992. Print.