The technology of message sending and how it impacts society.
“THE DESIRE to communicate with one another has been a driving creative force throughout our time on earth. As the medium of expression evolved our message went mobile and traveled through worlds both physical and digital.” (Washington, 2010)
Over time communication has become richer, more detailed and faster, although one can argue that the current evolution sacrifices richness for speed and ease of use.
Back in the day, when we were simple hominids, we communicated hunting tactics by grunting at each other. Then with the physical and cultural evolution of man, people developed spoken and written language. Paintings on walls from cavemen 37,000 years ago National Geographic (n.d).
World’s oldest cave art. Source: http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/549/overrides/spain-cave-art-dated-oldest_54922_600x450.jpg
This further developed into scripts written by scribes such as Egyptian hieroglyphs etched onto papyrus (Omniglot, n.d.).
Egyptian hieroglyphic Symbols. Source:
Other cultures developed their own languages and symbolic codes.
Arabic Alphabet. Source:
Some messages, such as cave art and Egyptian hieroglyphs
carved onto temples were not designed to be transported to convey information
and instructions. The ancient Greeks would shave the heads of slaves and tattoo
messages onto their scalp and send them off to carry the (secret) message once
their hair grew back (WatermarkingWorld, 2002). This was the earliest known
form of stenography that has given rise to new forms of message coding in the
digital age.
Great
Barrier Island Pigeon Postal Stamps. Source:
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/postage-stamp/16070/pigeon-post
Pigeons were used in the wars, most notably World War I and
World War II to deliver (usually coded) messages, which were put in a tube
attached to the bird’s leg.
“History: Historians believe the message, (left) which was
written by a Sergeant W. Stott, will provide unique insight into the war. It
was discovered rolled up in the red capsule attached to the pigeon
(right) “ Source: MailOnline (2012)
32 pigeons received the Dickens
Medal for their brewery, which is the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross
(MailOnline, 2012).
Pigeons in war. Source: Colquhoun, R. (2012). http://loveundefiled.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/pigeons-in-war.html
The development of the printing press allowed communication to become one to many instead of one to one. It began theassembly line model for the proliferation of information.
Gutenberg’s Printing Press. Source:
http://matadornetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/informationtech-printing.jpg
As the world was explored and
conquered, people kept in touch with each other by sending letters. Letters
took ages to arrive, because they got transported by ships, and ships are slow.
In the 19th century it took 76-100 days to sail from England to New
Zealand (Cossar, n.d.). So messages from the colonial office would be written
and sent almost one year before they got a reply from the New Colony.
SS Dunedin.
Source: http://nzpost-stamps.mycdn.co.nz/sites/default/files/issue/2961/2.40-Content-Image.jpg
The SS Dunedin was a clipper ship
launched to bring immigrants to New Zealand. It is also important historically
as it was later converted to carry frozen cargo. It carried the first frozen
meat shipment from New Zealand to England (NZ Post, n.d.)
This improved throughout the 10th
century. To get to New Zealand from England in 1908 via steamer ship took up to
50 days (RootsWeb, n,d.).
Then airplanes were invented, developed, became more
sophisticated resulting in them becoming faster and more economic than ships,
but messages still took a while to arrive.
An early transport plane. Source:
Pioneers of large Aircraft. (2012). http://www.engrailhistory.info/e030.html
The first airmail services between New Zealand and England
commenced in 1931 (NZ Post, n.d.)
Airmail Stamps. Source:
http://nzpost-stamps.mycdn.co.nz/sites/default/files/issue_historic/978/1931---airmail2222.jpg?1298245045
The electric telegraph was invented in 1792. It was used to
send electronic messages to people. It replaced the pigeon postal service because
it was faster.
Early Telegraph. Source: Bangladesh Telecommunications
Company Limited. (2011). Telecom Museum. http://www.btcl.gov.bd/museum/museum.htm \
The Southern Cross Cable is part of a network of undersea
cables that connect New Zealand to the rest of the world (Submarine Networks
World, n.d).
Southern Cross Cable. Source: http://www.google.co.nz/imgres?imgurl=http://knowit.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/southern-cross-01.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid%3D49%26topicid%3D111627%26page_no%3D2&h=260&w=402&sz=17&tbnid=wQIiKur5BNEMAM:&tbnh=80&tbnw=124&zoom=1&usg=__QpmHYg6ORyVrkYcULS5bo1AGZm8=&docid=SotQO-essv1O4M&hl=en&sa=X&ei=PT8wUtyzOumtiQee0IA4&ved=0CEkQ9QEwBA&dur=1863
But the development of computers and the internet (Internet
Society, n.d.) really changed social media.
Modern
Computers. Source: The Interpretation of Dreams.
(2013). Computer. http://eofdreams.com/computer.html
The Internet
as a Party. Source: FizX. (2013). http://fiz-x.com/internet-as-a-party/
People sent emails via sites such as hotmail and gmail, but
it took a couple of seconds for mail to be sent. Then instant messengers,
mainly facebook but also MSN evolved, and there are others such as twitter and
bebo (extinct).
Top 10
Free email service Providers. (2013).
http://blog.superheromail.com/top-10-free-email-service-providers/
You can send and receive messages in a second. Now people are
too lazy to even type messages, so they send pictures, either of themselves
(instagram) or fandoms (tumblr). The advent of social media is changing the way
that members of society interact (WebTrends, n.d.). We can not only access
information using the Internet, we can create it using Wikis. We can post
videos that can range from social interactions to instructional learning via YouTube.
These and other social networking tools can change the way that products are
marketed and we learn about them (Wilson, 2012).
Viral
Marketing Model. Source: http://www.google.co.nz/imgres?imgurl=http://sirfmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/viral-marketing-model.jpg&imgrefurl=http://sirfmarketing.com/2013/07/16/viral-marketing/&h=1600&w=1600&sz=201&tbnid=YOGZbcuj-4_IoM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=90&zoom=1&usg=__9JU6dY40KYjLPhykSbTyuPDVX3I=&docid=4a-Etk7MpsqMHM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=BUQwUpbXIoWViAfLkYHgBw&ved=0CD4Q9QEwAg&dur=5444
The world has become ubiquitous. We can send anything to
anyone anytime and anywhere. We can even send messages that embed the
instructions for 3D printers to create real 3D objects (Shapeways, n.d.).
New forms of communication will continue to shape the way we
communicate, live and interact with others. This will bring opportunities, as
well as challenges. Whilst what seemed impossible a few years ago is now
possible, we will suffer from more information overload and more obsolescence
in what we know faster than every before (JamesRobertson.com, n.d.). Other,
potentially socially undesirable implications include the ability to spy on
people’s everyday lives using electronic surveillance (Electronic Frontier
Foundation, 2013).
References
Colquhoun, R. (2012). Pigeons in war. Retrieved
from http://loveundefiled.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/pigeons-in-war.html
Cossar, B. (n.d). History, Clipper Ships and Naval History.
Retrieved from http://www.cossar.co.nz/c-index.htm
Electronic Frontier Foundation, (2013). The Patriot Act. Retrieved from https://www.eff.org/issues/patriot-act
Internet Society, (n.d.) A Brief History of the Internet
& Related Networks. Retrieved from http://www.internetsociety.org/internet/what-internet/history-internet/brief-history-internet-related-networks
JamesCRobertson.com (n.d.) Information obsolescence and
information half-life. Retrieved from
http://www.jamescrobertson.com/infosci/obsolescence.html
MailOnline (2012) Skeleton of hero World War II carrier
pigeon found in chimney with a secret message still attached to its leg (and
now Bletchley Park are trying to crack the code). Retrieved from
National Geographic (n.d). World's Oldest Cave Art Found—Made by Neanderthals? Retrieved from
NZ Post (n.d.) Airmail. Retrieved from http://stamps.nzpost.co.nz/new-zealand/1931/airmail
NZ Post (n.d.) Great Voyages of New Zealand. Retrieved from
http://stamps.nzpost.co.nz/new-zealand/2012/great-voyages
Omniglot, (n.d.) Ancient Egyptian scripts
RootsWeb, (n,d.). England to New Zealand 1908
by Steamer. Retrieved from http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nzbound/eng_nz.htm
Shapeways (n.d.) Make, buy, and sell products with 3D
Printing. How it works. Retrieved
from http://www.shapeways.com/
Submarine Networks World, (n.d). The Southern Cross Cable. Retrieved from http://submarinenetworks.com/systems/trans-pacific/southern-cross/southern-cross-cable-system-overview
Te Ara. (2012). Auckland places - Barrier islands. Retrieved
from http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/postage-stamp/16070/pigeon-post
The Encyclopedia of New Zealand (n.d.) Pigeon Post (http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/postage-stamp/16070/pigeon-post).
Washington, J. (2010). Cave paintings to the Internet:
50,000 years of IT. Retrieved from http://matadornetwork.com/notebook/from-cave-paintings-to-the-internet-50000-years-of-information-technology/
WatermarkingWorld, (2002). Stenanography. Retrieved from http://www.watermarkingworld.com/steganography_cyber_security_hide_hiding
WebTrends, (n.d.). What is social media? Retrieved from http://webtrends.about.com/od/web20/a/social-media.htm
