IMHO by PopopThePatriot: EVOLUTION OF MEDIA TECHNOLOGY
Technology Has Grown By Leaps & Bounds in Short Order
I have been fascinated by the evolution of media technology over the centuries and decades, especially over the last four decades. I have lived nearly five decades on this rock and I believe those are some of the most explosive decades when it comes to the evolution of communication media technology. In this paper, I am taking a long-past then right-now approach to discussing four important media technologies of our world:
Electromagnetic Telegraph
Cylinder Phonograph
Smartphone
Internet
Electromagnetic Telegraph: The earliest media technology I chose for discussion is the famed Electromagnetic Telegraph, which was patented to Samuel Morse in 1837. With this technology, coded messages were able to be sent over great distances, cutting down the time of communication by great numbers; therefore, if one was close to a telegraph station, the communication of that message could be virtually instantaneous compared to the other option of the Pony Express. The telegraph opened the door to the invention of the telephone, which evolved from a wired communication device into what we know today as a smartphone.
Cylinder Phonograph: The next phase in media technology I want to discuss takes us back to 1878 when Thomas Edison introduced the world to the Edison Cylinder Phonograph. This highly advanced, for the time, media technology using hill-and-dale groove recording technology to record, then play back sounds. This was the precursor for all recording and playback devices from vinyl records, 8-Track tape decks, to cassettes, the Compact Disc, and now the most advanced technology today MP3 electronic media.
Smartphone: Leaping forward to present technology, I have already mentioned the distant ancestor to the smartphone, the telegraph. Today’s smartphone technology puts more power in your pocket than the computing power used for the entire Apollo moon landing mission. Think about that for a minute, more computing power in your pocket than all the power necessary to put a man on the Moon. The smartphone puts the instantaneous communication technology, coupled with the recording and playback technology right in your pocket. Connected to a network, you have everything you need to stay connected, perform research, find your way, and watch a movie, all in your pocket.
Internet: The Internet, invented by Al Gore in the 1990’s, just kidding; seriously though, when discussing communication media technology, one must mention the Internet. The Internet has provided billions of terabytes of information available nearly instantaneously via a multitude of devices able to connect to the internet, like the smartphone. There are very few electronic devices being made today that don’t somehow connect to the internet giving you access to them 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
Communication media technology continues to advance exponentially as computers get faster; and humans get more inventive and creative, and as the need to instant gratification get greater. The one question one must ask is, at what point will we reach a singularity where humans and machines are actually one in the same?
I’m #PopopThePatriot, and that is my humble opinion. Opinions are like, you know, so please let me know yours in the comments below. Follow me on Twitter @im_popop