Technology changing the way people connect

posted April 7, 2021, 9:13 AM by Laurel Palli ‎(2023)‎

Technology has affected and transformed the way we communicate with each other. There was a time when TV, radios, and newspapers were the only available media sources. Today, smartphones and social media have simplified the process of publishing and sharing news. Communication technology advances have revolutionized the world. Communication tools have undergone much change since the creation of the telegraph around a century ago. The telegraph is a slower means of communication with more simplistic and lower quality messages, and in the present day we have the availability to communicate through text, and share voice, pictures, and video.

Throughout much of the 19th century, the telegraph dominated the way people communicated. The telegraph is a system for transmitting electrical messages from a distance along a wire. The device used a point-to-point messaging system that utilized coded pulses of electric current through dedicated wires to transmit the information. The electronic pulses were translated back into words to communicate a message. This was revolutionary because it was the first time in history that one could communicate with words without the necessity of physical transportation.

Technology has affected and transformed the way we communicate with each other. There was a time when TV, radios, and newspapers were the only available media sources. Today, smartphones and social media have simplified the process of publishing and sharing news. Communication technology advances have revolutionized the world. Communication tools have undergone much change since the creation of the telegraph around a century ago. The telegraph is a slower means of communication with more simplistic and lower quality messages, and in the present day we have the availability to communicate through text, and share voice, pictures, and video.

Throughout much of the 19th century, the telegraph dominated the way people communicated. The telegraph is a system for transmitting electrical messages from a distance along a wire. The device used a point-to-point messaging system that utilized coded pulses of electric current through dedicated wires to transmit the information. The electronic pulses were translated back into words to communicate a message. This was revolutionary because it was the first time in history that one could communicate with words without the necessity of physical transportation.

In 1876 the telephone was invented and allowed the transportation of the human voice. The telephone operated by converting sound into an electrical signal through a ‘liquid transmitter’. This process centered around directing sound through a receiver and onto a thin membrane stretched over a drum. On the outside of the membrane, a cork with a needle attached to a battery extended to a cup filled with sulphuric acid and metal contact. When sound waves hit the membrane, it caused vibrations, varying the strength of the current passing between the needle and the contact. This electric signal traveled down a wire to a receiver, where the sounds were re-created through a reversed process. This the audio recording of the first phone call: https://youtu.be/yw3nyttt7_k?t=54

By the 1880s many telephone exchanges in important cities were built as central offices in which the wires of telephones may be connected to permit conversation. By the 1950s, almost every household had a landline connection. This allowed for the majority of the population to talk to others from extreme distances. Advances in the 1970s and 80s laid the foundation for communication as we know it today.

Fast forward 100 years to the creation of the 2G network in 1991 that pushed the cellular networks from analogue to digital and enabled text messaging and calls. The introduction of 3G and 4G made sharing pictures and videos over long distances possible. Around this time, the 2000s, social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter were invented and opened a new way to communicate. The defining attributes of these social media platforms are speed and availability. We are more connected with people than at any point in time. The universal nature of smartphones and the internet means that constant short-form contact has replaced long and less frequent interactions.

Advancements in technology and changes in communication generally go hand in hand. Landlines displaced the telegraph and cell phones replaced landlines. The arrival of the internet opened new doors of personal communication. Newer means of communication are becoming more popular, for example, emails are used more frequently than postal mail, and social media is connecting large groups of people allowing them to interact with one another which can now be used instead of text messages. And the development of Facebook, Instagram, Skype, and Whatsapp is enriching our lives further and making the world more integrated.

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/technology-communicate-27322.html