Page 51 - Berkshire Encyclopedia Of World History Vol Two

400 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding,
intimacy and mutual valuing. • Rollo May (1909–1994)

Sound recording began in 1877 when Thomas Edison the world. Cellular telephone and Internet access will
(1847–1931) recorded a voice on a cylinder. Ten years reach even the most remote village. Newer media, such
later, flat disks not only permitted the recording of music, as wireless video-on-demand and virtual reality will sup-
but could be mass produced.After World War II, records plement the media we know today. In the process, they
were gradually edged out by magnetic tape and, since the will homogenize the world’s cultures. Local languages
1980s, by compact disks and other digital media derived will disappear, replaced by a few global ones. Tastes in
from computer technology. clothing, music, and entertainment will converge. Yet, if
past experience is a guide, better communications will
Computers and not bring about better understanding between the peo-
the Internet ples of the world or reduce the likelihood of wars.While
Until the 1980s, the mass media were unidirectional, technology gives us the power to send information across
with the public in the role of passive recipients. Com- time and space at ever lower cost, it cannot prevent the
puters made mass communication interactive on a global abuse of such power by those who control the media.
scale. This became possible when personal computers
Daniel R. Headrick
became affordable consumer items and even more when
a gigantic decentralized network, the Internet, permitted
the connection of any computer to any other.At first, the
Further Reading
Internet operated like a free text-messaging service, but by
Aitchison, J. (1996). The seeds of speech: Language origin and evolution.
the 1990s, the World Wide Web transmitted pictures, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
voice, and music as well as text. Businesses quickly seized Aitken, H. G. J. (1985). The continuous wave: Technology and American
radio, 1900–1932. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
upon the Web as a cheap means of advertising and sell-
Aitken, H. G. J. (1985). Syntony and spark: The origins of radio. Prince-
ing their goods and services. Unlike radio and television ton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
broadcasting, however, neither business nor governments Campbell-Kelly, M., & Aspray,W. (1996). Computer:A history of the infor-
mation machine. New York: Basic Books.
have been able to monopolize or censor the Internet. Cavalli-Sforza, L.-L. (2000). Genes, people, and languages. New York: Far-
Individuals and organizations can transmit any kind of rar, Straus & Giroux.
Coulmas, F. (1989). The writing systems of the world. Oxford, UK:
message or information to any interested party with ac-
Blackwell.
cess to a computer.What is emerging is a combination of Eisenstein, E. (1983). The printing revolution in early modern Europe.
personal and mass communication linking all parts of the Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Headrick, D. R. (1991). The invisible weapon: Telecommunications and
world. international politics, 1851–1945. New York: Oxford University Press.
Although the price of computers and Internet service Headrick, D. R. (2000). When information came of age: Technologies of
knowledge in the age of reason and revolution, 1700–1850. New York:
keeps coming down, this technology still benefits dis-
Oxford University Press.
proportionately the organizations and citizens of the Hobart, M. E., & Schiffman, Z. S. (1998). Information ages: Literacy,
wealthier countries. As of this writing, there are more numeracy, and the computer revolution. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
University Press.
computers and telephone lines in Manhattan than in all Innis, H.A. (1950). Empire and communications. Oxford, UK: Clarendon
of Africa, and the gap is widening. Like their predeces- Press.
Kilgour, F. G. (1998). The evolution of the book. New York: Oxford Uni-
sors, the new communication technologies favor the
versity Press.
elites, both locally and globally. Kittler, F.A. (1999). Gramophone, film, typewriter. Stanford, CA: Stanford
University Press.
Martin, H.-J. (1994). The history and power of writing. Chicago: Uni-
The Future of versity of Chicago Press.
Communication McWhorter, J. (2001). The power of Babel:A natural history of language.
New York: W. H. Freeman.
In the twenty-first century, communication systems will
Ong, W. J. (1988). Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the word.
continue to expand and deepen their penetration around London: Routledge.