My First Post (Com 300)

My first post in relations to the course readings, i would like to cover and add to chapter 4 of mediamorphasis. I found this article to be very interesting, because the history of technology fascinates me. Primarily because the history of media technology shows each and every step of technological breakthroughs that display how we have come to our present state of technological media that we take for granted. These consists of simple everyday activities such as watching television, using a cell phone, and surfing the internet. However, it is interesting to examine more carefully that all these new medias we come to know are just revised versions of old mediums. In a way, the new mediums are essentially functional precursors, that these new mediums only help us do something we have always been doing, just faster, smaller, and more efficient. This is displayed in chapter 4 mediamorphasis by the historical timeline of media technology. First came the telegraph, an invention that paved the way for immediate communication over space and time. Following that the telephone had arisen. The telephone holds the same concepts as the telegraph, however, holds a higher convenience because of the absence of a morse code interpretor at the other end. Which in turn cuts costs for businesses. Soon after the development of the telephone, the “wireless telegraph”, the radio. This was the first medium that could broadcast. A one to many communication medium. In turn the development of the television gave picture broadcasting. Finally comes the internet, a very special media that combines each aspect of the previous mediums giving people the power of each with a click of the button.

 I dont think any of us can imagine life without the simple pleasures of instant messaging and cell phones. However, my point is (Ah HA) that new technologies are never as new as they seem. Although what began this shift into the information age? I guess it would be the first method of communication across distances. Simply stated, the railroad systems that transported the information before the telegraph and telephone were invented.  This leads me to my second point or (Ah HA), more or less a point, maybe more of an observation. But we are all common with the phrase information highway. We now think of wires, airwaves, and the internet. However the first information highway to use this term was the postal system. The term was literally used, because of the use of trains, planes, etc.

 Furthermore, on Bush’s description of Memex incomparisons with today’s personal computers and internet, are very similar. Computers and the internet are today’s way of storing information that can be archived and retrieved anytime, very quickly and affectively. The memex follows the same method of browsing as the internet. On the internet one can browse and search new domains, however conveniently there is a back button if he/she has gone off topic. Which consequently is also a factor in the memex. The ways in storing and searching information seems to be very similar in comparison with todays age in computers and internet and the memex of 1945. However, envisioning the internet in 2045 will still follow the same criteria today. Although access will be less of an issue. The digital divide will cease to exist, and with the advancement of technology, things will become voice activated, and widespread. For example the idea of a universal remote, however a universal remote that can be applied to everything, such as the internet, telephone, music, television, news, and anything else you can imagine. Although back to the point, the elements of the internet will continue to be the same in the future, however interactivity will flourish.

Discussion Questions-

 1. Who was the first to adopt the use new mediums such as the telegraph, telephone, radio, etc?

2. When did FM radio arise? and what are the differences between AM and FM radio?

3. What are some of the obstacles old mediums faced when they were first developed?