Right from the telegraph, to the telephone, radio, television and satellites, each technological development compressed time and space forming a new space for communication in this new ‘global village’. It’s a funny concept to imagine a world where communication could only happen on a local level, where messages had to be physically passed or communicated on a face-to-face level. The interesting part of the implication of global networks is the creation of new concepts such as weather reports, which were non-existent prior to such global networks, as information was not able to be communicated over large areas of space. Concepts which we now take for granted, as we have been brought up communicating on a global level, where this compression of time and space is a normative process.
What particularly interested me were the new opportunities for women in the workforce the invention of telephony brought as the new career opportunities came through switchboard operators. This was a particular interest of mine, as my Nan was accepted into the RAF, as a switchboard operator. This communication tool allowed for a social change, creating opportunities for women globally, such as my Nan in gaining a profession which came with full-time employment and training in a specialist field.
So, without being to technological deterministic, there are still implications on social issues coming from such advancements in technologies and communication networks. Some in which we take for granted on a daily basis. Next time you IM your friend on Facebook, or send an email, remember how communicating would have been like prior to such communication networks. Carrier pigeon delivery system doesn’t seem too instant..
5 comments:
Without being too technological deterministic also, it is strange to see how such new technologies have spawned new practices, for example sms language. Technology forced us to create a new language, which some say will be the extinction of the English language, yet people can adapt to text talk and the English language. It seems to me that as technology fastens, we must too. First it was diving into the unknown and now it comes to "what's next...?" Good post Matty =D
Thank you! Yeah I heard something about writing and reading is a dying form, SMS and the web has changed the habits of reading with now people choosing to "skim" read only.
Very interesting to read about your Nan and her RAF career Matt. I don't remember whether this was mentioned in the lecture but in fact the word computer initially indicated women doing complex arithmetic calculations.
without being to technological deterministic i think it is interesting how society adapts to the new technology platforms creating new networks. A new technology storms in and all of a sudden that we have a network that is completely dependent on the new medium.. it alive...
Matt I really enjoyed your post, it is weird to think what it would be like without the Internet and all our social networking sites and email. I remember when I first got the internet, that stupid tone that the modem would make, it was the worst. Nowadays no stupid tone, no stupid wires. What is next I wonder, computers in our brains... It's not so far off.
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