Where is Communication Headed?

If we stop to take a look at ourselves, and then compare where we are and how we live our daily lives in comparison to someone of the same age and demographic of the last decade, what kinds of changes would we see? Odds are, there would be a great deal of changes to take note of. These changes are going to be particularly evident among the types of technology being implemented by each party. As of the past three decades, technology has been increasing at a seemingly exponential rate. Recently, if you were to purchase a computer and use it for a year, odds are there would be a new model on the market exhibiting attributes that vastly blow away your “outdated” model. This concept applies to everything, especially communication.

Just ten years ago, it was uncommon for children under the age of twelve to wield a cell phone. Most children were unaware or simply did not care about the newest model cell phone or portable device; however, by today’s standards, kids as young as six are walking around with a cell phone. In conjunction with that, it seems as if nobody can walk from one place to another without plugging their ears with ear-buds connected to an iPod or MP3 player. This is by no means a bad thing, it is just an obvious sign that times are changing.

The way we communicate as a society has taken a drastic turn from what it used to be. Instead of simply calling people on the phone or sending a certified letter through “snail mail”, we are now veteran texters and internet surfers that utilize programs that allow us to see the people we are talking to face to face, regardless of their location throughout the world. It is exciting to imagine the types of advances that will be made in the coming decade, perhaps there will be devices that allow us to communicate telepathically.

Filed Under: Communications, Technology Tagged With: ,

The Evolution of Human Communication in The Twentieth Century

Technology is a wonderful thing. If we take a moment to look back and reflect upon the advancements that have been made over the past 100 years, it is astonishing. This concept is particularly evident when it comes to communication. In the early twentieth century we were still transferring mail via horseback, messages through telegraphic wiring networks and depended on the radio for most news taking place outside of our hometowns. Fast-forwarding 100 years, the entire face of society, and communications specifically have drastically evolved. It is nearly impossible to go anywhere by today’s standards and not get a piece of some form of news, or large scale occurrences taking place around the world.

One of the largest accomplishments that assisted in the vast evolution of fast and efficient communication was the television. Before television, radios were the dominant source of media; television opened up an entirely new spectrum of media and news travel potential. After the induction of this wonderful picture box, computers moved in a few decades later. When the personal computer was first being utilized, it was not nearly what a personal computer is in modern society, it was more of a box that stored information and made complicated calculations. However, as the internet popped on and massive networks became interlinked, computers began making their way into the everyday residential household.

Moving ahead another twenty years, the number of computers in residential households is growing at a seemingly exponential rate. As the number of computers grow, as do the number of people plugged into the internet. The internet proves to be the fastest and most efficient way to find and obtain information. Whether the information comes from a streamed media site run by a large broadcasting station, or is simply and RSS feed from an entertainment site; when something big happens, it tends to find it’s way to the internet within the hour of the occurrence, providing incredibly up to date and nearly real time information for people.

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The Evolution and History of Communicating

When one takes the time to go back and reflect upon the advancements that have been made over the past millennium in terms of society and the tools humans utilize to successfully perform their daily takes, it is truly remarkable. This concept pertains specifically to advancements that have been made through communicating over the past 100 years.

Not long ago in the early 1900s, humans were prone to using wires and horseback to transmit messages from one place to another. Telephones had recently been introduced and utilized telegraphic transmission to deliver sounds and voices from one apparatus to another. Additionally, the concept of wireless communications via the radio was still extremely new and not well known technology. Little did anyone living in the early 20th century have any inclination of thinking that such drastic advancements would be made in as little as 100 years.

Moving ahead to the year 2000, efficient communication is a way of life. Pilots of large aircraft that carry thousands of passengers around the globe on a daily basis wirelessly communicate clearly to air traffic controllers that give them the word to safely land on a runway. Additionally, computers have taken a front seat as one of the most prolific and widely used pieces of technology in the average American household. With hundreds and thousands of computers making their way into households on an annual basis, these versatile pieces of technology offer a wide range of options for people to communicate from anywhere to anyone in any place on the globe, and even beyond.

Additionally, the prized telegraph phone from the late 19th and early 20th century has been slightly tweaked and transformed into a miniature handheld device with vast capabilities and efficiency. Cell phones have become a staple in modern society not only providing a way to communicate, but leading the forefront of a new way of life and communications.

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What can you learn from broadcast communications history?

The one constant in our society is that people want more and more access to communications with other people. As history has progressed, people have found new and innovative ways to connect with each other. In the 1800s, people still had to wait weeks for news to reach some remote areas in the United States because people had to wait for that information to leak slowly through newspapers. Eventually people developed the Pony Express as a way to have dedicated routes for passing along this information.

Both the car and the radio increased the ability of people to connect with others for communication purposes. The Museum of Broadcast Communications is a demonstration of this issue. The radio allowed people around the nation to listen in to shows to find out what was going on. Franklin Roosevelt’s weekly presidential address, the Fireside Chats, became a staple of life during the Great Depression as people listened to this broadcast to get information about the country’s recovery.

Cars also benefit society by allowing for faster transport of information. Newspapers could be sent by cars, rather than trains or horses, to help get them to cities faster. As soon as people had this ability to communicate more quickly, people in most towns and cities started weekly, or even daily, papers to give people more information.

Throughout most of the twentieth century, radio, and then television, gave people daily updates about news. The advent of the Internet, made widely available to the public in the mid 1990s, added a new layer to broadcast communications, however. Now people can get their information as quickly as something happens. It is possible to get alerts sent to one’s laptop or cell phone to find out about news as soon as it happens. As technology progresses, so does people’s insatiable desire for communications.

Filed Under: Communications, History Tagged With: , ,

Is Television Scheduling Headed for Museums?

On a recent evening, my small children expressed their shock that to watch a show on network television, we had to be in front of the television at a pre-determined time. At their tender ages, they have become accustomed to Hulu, Netflix, and other web-based, on-demand ways of watching television shows without adhering to a schedule.

Studies indicate that this move away from watching television shows on the screen when they first air is not a simple trend. In fact more people are beginning to use the internet for their television needs daily. This move begs the question: is television scheduling becoming a concept for a communications museum?

When television first was available to a large number of people, there were no set shows. Older folks talk of turning on their television and waiting in the hopes that a show would come on. Slowly, evening news became a standard, and information important to our society was available to most people on a nightly basis.

Eventually television executives realized that they could sell more advertising by having schedules so that people would know when to tune in. This concept of random television shows is an idea now suitable for communications history now as few people remember those days.

The use of the internet to disseminate information is making scheduling now look like a thing of the past. If one misses a show, there are no worries about what happened. It is easy enough to log onto the internet in the next 12 hours and see the show re-run. Typically one can see these shows with fewer”or even no “commercials and have the option to start and stop as they please.

Given this advent, it is no wonder that television scheduling soon will belong in a museum as an anomaly in the entertainment world.

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Women and Broadcast Communications History

In the early days of television broadcasting, women were not permitted on the air. When they eventually earned a spot on shows, they worked in “human interest” stories or doing sideline reports for larger stories.

Barbara Walters was the first woman to get a spot as an anchor of a major communications broadcast. Her appointment caused ripples as many people still
believed women did not have the right to be on set as anchors.

Walters has indicated that those early days were difficult. She now works only doing specials and serving as a co-host and producer of ABC’s The View. Walters says that what clothes she wore and her hair were significant decisions in those early days.

Indeed, those still are important decisions for both men and women on television, but women’s roles have expanded such that the quality of their stories now matters more than their appearance.

In today’s society, seeing women holding down anchors seats is not unheard of. In fact, there are an equal number of women on many network morning shows, evening news shows, and cable news shows. As women have gained economic power, appealing to them on television has become vitally important. Advertisers want to know that women will be watching the shows they pay to sponsor, making the idea that men are the ones who should tell the news is a concept for history now.

While women still have gains to make for equality, especially in niche areas like sports reporting, they are accepted as equal partners in news production shows. Even in sports, women are beginning to gain acceptance as desk anchors, reporting on stories they receive, rather than simply asking innocuous questions on sidelines of games. Society no longer stands for the idea that news is only good or important if it comes from a man’s mouth.

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Finding History in Vegas

Las Vegas is a city that lives very much in the now. It has a transitory population, and a reputation for imploding buildings once they are no longer wanted. Underneath all the demand for immediate satisfaction, there is a rich and unique history to the Las Vegas valley.

Boneyard

The Neon Museum has a collection of over 150 neon signs that are a rich part of Las Vegas’ history. Dating back as far as the 1930s, many of these unrestored signs are located in the Boneyard. The collection includes signs from the Stardust, Golden Nugget, and Silver Slipper. While the museum itself isn’t open yet, tours are available for the Boneyard. Visit neonmuseum.org for more information.

Las Vegas Mob Experience

It’s not a myth that the mob built up Las Vegas. In 1946 Benjamin Siegel, widely known as Bugsy Siegel, was sent to Las Vegas to oversee the construction of the Flamingo Hotel and Casino. After he went seriously over budget, pushed the opening before the hotel was finished, and kept losing money on the project before he could turn it around, the mob had him killed. The Las Vegas Mob Experience, located at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino, is a museum focuses around the mob’s previous influence in Las Vegas that helped turn it into the resort town it is today. More information about the museum can be found at lvme.com.

Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort

Before Las Vegas was Sin City, it was a Mormon settlement. In 1855, Bringham Young sent a group of missionaries to establish a mission in the Las Vegas valley. Their intention was to convert the local Paiute Indians and teach them farming and irrigation techniques. The settlement also served as a halfway point between the communities in Salt Lake and the mission in San Bernardino. Parts of the original fort still stand, and visitors can visit the site year round. For more information visit parks.nv.gov/olvmf.htm.

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Preserving Your Cultural Heritage for Your Children

Every Halloween my mother put out an altar for our dead relatives. Every year at the beginning of January I put out one shoe, so that the three kings would leave me a chocolate bar. My after school snack was usually a corn tortilla rolled up with a little bit of butter. My mother’s rice was cooked with mint, and her black beans simmered on the stove all day long and were flavored with special avocado leaves sent by Jefa, my grandmother.

It wasn’t until I had my own child that I understood the significance of the way she had raised me. I always knew that I was an American, but I also knew my mother was Mexican and she had taught me a lot about her rich culture.

Nothing she did was particularly special, even thought it really was. She gave me broader experiences and a deeper sense of who I was by exposing me to the unique aspects of her heritage.

Everyone can do the same by following a few steps:

  • Share folklore and historical stories with your children.
  • Teach your children about the indigenous people of your home.
  • Prepare traditional dishes, or include cultural ingredients in family meals.
  • Practice cultural rituals, and celebrate traditional holidays.

As my daughter got older I began looking for more and more ways to introduce her to the same experiences I had as a child. The first year we celebrated El Día de los Muertos, I bought plastic molds and we made sugar skulls. I started putting mint in my rice. A couple weeks after Christmas my daughter would wake up to find a chocolate bar in her shoe.

At first my boyfriend didn’t quite get it, even though he said he did. He was a non-practicing Jew, and didn’t see any reason to start so close to turning 40. Well, until our son was born. That was the year we celebrated our first Hanukkah as a family.

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Digitally Preserving Family Documents

Knowing your family history is the first step towards preserving it. Having a shoebox tucked up in the closet that’s filled with aging photographs and crumbling papers isn’t the best way keep your documents safe.

The most efficient way of preserving your documents is to scan them into your computer so you have digital copies of your family records. Different types of documents to scan include:

Family Portraits
Photos give you a visual sense of family, and help bring someone to life. When you have multiple people in a family photo you can start to see the interpersonal relationships different family members had with each other. Photos also help establish time lines, geographic location, and offer socioeconomic clues about family during the time of the photograph.

Birth, Death and Marriage Certificates
Valuable information is stated in birth, death and marriage certificates. All of these help establish time lines, nationality, physical location, and family relationships.

Newspaper Clippings and Handwritten Letters
Letters and newspaper clippings have a lot of personal “slice of life” type of information. They help to flush out details of the time period, as well as establish interpersonal relationships.

Military and Professional or Educational Documents
College degrees, professional certificates and military documents are all valuable for rounding out a person’s life. From these documents you can find information on international travel, what kind of education they had, and what honors they were awarded during their career.

Once you have all your materials gathered, scanned, and touched up if needed, you can use family tree software to organize them, or you can do it yourself by putting documents in specific folders or by creating a slide show from iPhoto for Mac or Windows Live Photo Gallery.

Sharing with your family is not much simpler once you have digital copies. You can burn your work to a CD or DVD, or save your files together in a PDF and email them out. You won’t have to worry about photos being lost or ripped up any more.

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The Grassroots of the Convenience of Communication

Many people these days take for granted that they can contact any person they want at any time that they want. You can call someone on their cell phone, send them an email, message them on a social network web site or even video conference with them. Being able to immediately interact with another person anywhere in the world is a staple of the technology era that we live in. Obviously this hasn’t always been the case.

There once was a day where people would write letters to each other and have to wait days or weeks to receive them. People used to have only a few channels on television for their news and entertainment and they were amazed by the footage they saw. Even before then, the radio was the main source for information around the world. These forms of communication only describe what has happened in our most recent history.

Hundreds of years ago, a person’s options were even more limited. People could send messages via telegraph and some entire towns did not even have one. You would have to send your message this way and someone would have to take the message to its destination, which could be miles away. Not a very efficient way to communicate, but it was the origins of many of the types of communication that you use in your everyday lives.

Learning the history of how we communicate will give you are greater appreciation for all the conveniences that you have in your life. Our recent ancestors were pioneers and every year we enhance what they started. We have come a long way in a short period of time and there is no ceiling for how high tech we can go. So next time you send an instant message, email or text, remember that it took a lot of innovation and work to get to where we are today.

Filed Under: Communications, Technology Tagged With: , ,
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