Impact of Technology over the Past 100 Years Essay
In the beginning came the telegraph. This form of communication was invented in the 1830’s in the U. K. The first proper telegraph was not sent until 1845 in the U. K.
This led to significant news being able to be sent to a recipient in a short space of time rather than by the old lengthy means of post. During the Second World War the service had to be suspended though. By this time new forms of communications were on their way. Just before the start of the First World War came the birth of the transistor radio as it was then called.This meant that people could for the first time listen to news broadcasts, plays, and music without having to go the shops to buy newspapers and not have to pay in to see expensive shows at the end of the working week.
At this time 2 way radios’ also arrived on the scene which meant people could speak to and receive conversations with each other. These 2 new ways of communicating would lead to problems though. Such as a play by Orsen Wells was to prove. The play that sent most of America into a panic when it was broadcast live on Halloween, suffice to say they thought that the World was being invaded by Aliens.
This was the power of radio reaching a wide audience, people believed what they heard. With the birth of the telephone meant people could speak to each other directly and in private for the first time over long distances. This meant that people could travel and keep in touch with family and work without having to rely on post or on sending telegraphs which were slow to receive. The problem with this though is that you kind of had to hold a conversation with people even if you didn’t necessarily want to.
After the phone came the birth of the television which let’s face it, no one could do without these days.For the first time people could get live news and pictures broadcast straight to their homes over a grainy analogue signal. The World was about to get a whole lot smaller communication wise. The disadvantage of the TV though is that along with receiving news and other programmes like sport and nature programmes it became a hot bed for people to use hurtful propaganda against one another, e. g. Governments against Governments, Countries at war with each other and of course a countries Government against its’ own people. When do you ever hear of a politician telling the truth?Nowadays people seem more and more content and intent to believe what they hear and see on the telly. Towards the end of the Second World War started to see a new invention which was to revolutionize the way that mankind was to start communicating and storing information.
This device is today what we call the “Computer”. Satellites which could broadcast sound and pictures were sent up into space which sent out signals that bounced of airwaves and sent information back to a station by going to a receiving dish back on the Earth.Todays computers have come along way since those first days. When computers first came out they were mainly for business to store information on to reduce the amount of paperwork that had to be held onto by big firms. Nowadays nearly every home has a computer or other such equipment in their homes.
This means that with the likes a small camera sitting on top of your Personnel Computer you can communicate with people almost anywhere in the world. There are even new types of phones that can do this for you. These are what are known as Smart Phones.
