HISTORY OF COMMUNICATION (A JOURNEY FROM SHOUTING TO TEXTING)

HOW IT ALL BEGAN: I CAN PAINT AND NOW I CAN TALK?

Imagine being a caveman in the wilderness on a hunt and trying to tell your primitive friend that there's an animal behind the bushes, how do you tell him that? Researchers believed that Cavemen uses signs and symbols to indicate or to communicate with each others; one significant prove to this is the cave paintings that are said to date back around the 130,000 B.C.E.. These paintings are created by mashing pigments from juice of fruits, berries, colored minerals or stones and animal blood. The purpose of these paintings cannot exactly be understood however researchers believed that it was one of the ways to communicate between a group of Cavemen or to simply express a sudden creativity. Some even speculate that it is to simply instruct others on what animals or plants were safe to eat and which ones are deadly.

While cave painting were a thing of discovery, recent research found that Cavemen may have a linguistic or speech ability but they were unable to exactly pinpoint the facts until there is a better preserved muscle or any other organ that could change the result statement. Dr Simon Underdown, an anthropologist at Oxford Brookes University is determined that this research will bring a new perspective to Cavemen instead of being thought as "dull-witted". 

references:

Did Stone Age Cavemen Talk to Each Other in Symbols?
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/mar/11/cave-painting-symbols-language-evolution

Cavemen May Have Used Language
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1566748/Cavemen-may-have-used-language.html

SECOND EVOLUTION: DID YOU CATCH MY DRUM SOLO?

Another early form of communication, and a less popular one is using drum and smoke signals to communicate with another tribal community. It is once predicted by researchers that Cavemen have evolved and now stay in preferred groups and develop these communicative methods to send messages to another neighboring group. It was going well until someone asked: wait- would these drumming and smoking signal attract their enemies and some bigger and hungrier animal? And so, this research died down. These methods were also difficult to standardize the advent of human language and how it evolved.

IF YOU THINK WRITING IS HARDCORE, TRY CARVING

It was only until a certain period of time when someone keeps forgetting a certain message and therefore took the efforts to write it down. Ancient Egypt made one of the first writing material from scratch - no really, they made it from a reed and called it the Papyrus because that was what the plant was called. This Papyrus invention eventually grew popular and soon enough Ancient Egypt's became the number one spot for foreign exporters to get their writing materials stocked. 

This was also around the time where the word "Manuscript" came about, originally from a Latin term "libri manu scripti" which translates to "book written by hand". Foreshadowing that handwritten manuscripts that were written and bound to be books or documents at that time. The only available genre back then were Religion due to the fact that writing a religion piece was viewed as committing a religious act or as form of worship, and also because most of the writers are monks in monasteries. Literacy wasn't appreciated back then since not everyone had time to read, hence most citizens are illiterate, except of course, the monks and the upper class as they had more time than the other.  

Some citizens, somehow had more time than the rest and started (and got paid) to craved messages on stone pillars of public courts and buildings to set a message for the citizens. In Ancient Greece, it was widely used to express gratitude of a certain officer or leader and to give signs of indication to a newly constructed building. It makes it so much easier now that Herocles wouldn't get lost trying to make his way to the public library... unless he is illiterate. 

REMEMBER THAT TIME WHEN THEY ONLY HAD ONE COPY?

In 1448, Johann Gutenberg, a German blacksmith and goldsmith became a "print-smith" when he introduced printing to Europe with his newest invention - a printing press. It all came from a vision of his; a device that uses movable types made from wooden blocks with pre-printed text and combined the usage of paper and ink that allowed books to be mass-produced and most importantly, cheaper for all (because it isn't the original copy).

Gutenberg made his first device by adapting a wine press to remove the water from paper after printing. He then tried printing a whole Latin speech book and then tried printing the bibles, which contributes to his greater success as not only it was an act of God's kindness upon him, but now the citizens could get their bible-reading at home. But the only downside to his success was the uneducated and illiterate peasants of that century.

I GET PAID TO DELIVER ANOTHER PERSON'S WRITTEN MESSAGE

Yet another leaping evolution came to the means of communication when letter writing and postman came about. United States circa 1775, the first ever United States Post Office was built and Benjamin Franklin was named as the first Postmaster General. This hit a big market as everyone was so eager to try and send letters to their relatives who lived miles away and it got bigger when Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons came in. By 1828, United States became the largest postal system in the world with a whooping 7,800 post offices available throughout their states. Mail were primarily transported by train, as it was proven efficient, reliable and fast at that time. Other methods of sending mails include, cycling, walking and ships (although this was the least favorable choice in speed... and smell).

THE RACE OF BEING THE NEXT GREATEST INVENTOR

Now that everyone's demanding a faster way to get a message from one person to another, this desire lead to the invention of a telegraph. The characteristic of telegraphic communication involve sending electrostatically-generated signals through a wire. The system involves three main components - a battery for electricity, a key to complete or break a circuit and an electromagnet at the receiving end which consist of a wire that pulls on a piece of metal when electricity passes through it.

As usual, the American inventors are trying to get their name in for being the first inventor of this magnificent piece. Samuel F. B. Morse was one of them, he stood proud standing by the side of his prototype in 1837. Unfortunately it was found out that it really was an Englishman by the name William Watson who first began sending messages via telegraph in the 1747. Poor old Samuel Morse, but hey- at least you got your name in for making the famous Morse Code.

The influence of the telegraph allowed instant communication across long distances and it was proven useful during the wartime to transmit messages from one point to another in such a short time. The telegraph was also popular among the Victorians and those upper classes really dig the idea of using it for personal affairs. Lower classes however where not into telegraphs as sending a telegraph is too costly for them. 

"I CALLED YOU ON THE TELEFONE, BUT YOU'RE NEVER HOME" - SHEENA EASTON

In 1878, Alexander Graham Bell was busy dreaming about revolutionizing the communication world. Like all dreamers - I mean inventors, he was fascinated by new technologies popping up all around him and therefore is on a lookout for something new and interesting. He began observing sound vibrations that transmitted through the air and how it was received at the same pitch in another room. A daredevil he is, he wanted to transfer sound and pitch across a wire and figured that it would be possible to produce sound waves that are continuous and undulating current.  After a bunch of try-outs, he finally made a modern telephone! Unfortunately for Bell, his invention did not came in as excitement as he expected as telegraphs were widely used at that time and many criticized that his concept was not original or entirely new. Telephone service were also dreadfully costly at that time, therefore citizens exclaimed that it is a "direful waste of money for a piece of unnecessary device".

RADIO GA GA

It was during the early 1900's when a new form of communication and entertainment took the world into a different wave, no seriously, the days of "short-wave" communication used in the WWI was great but now it'll be greater. Premature broadcasting began around 1914 but it took six years later, 1920, to get commercial broadcasting to hit air waves and make the biggest breakthrough yet. In 1925, the Federal Communications Commission stepped in and at that moment, approximately 2 million homes had radios and several hundred stations broadcasting thousands of program. This technology was so advanced that radios were obsolete within 3-6 months. 

One of the main reason for its popularity is also due its markets back in The Great Depression Era where it served an entertainment purpose for lower class folks to entertain themselves or to simply danced around to the music playing in it. And yet on 1933, Edwin Armstrong, "the father of FM radio" gave a new feature in radio when he invented the Frequency-Modulated (FM) radio. Thanks to that, the number of radios in American homes doubled and by 1947, 800,000 FM receivers were produced.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

Other than radio, another form of communication began to pop up. The first attempt ever to make it happened was in the early 1800's but it was poorly received. It was then redone and rediscovered by using reverse colors know as "negatives", thus giving a rebirth to the art of Photography. 

The process of taking a photo and developing it remained largely unchanged for decades until digital technology caught up. With solid piece of equipment that markets by the catchphrase "capture the moment" it was no wonder any electronic stores around the corner began stocking up these bad boys. Photography also changed the way we look at communication, not just by listening and reading, but also by looking and acknowledging the message behind a certain photograph. It was also a way to preserve a historical event without being there physically. 

LOOK MA, I AM ON TV!

Television made its official debut at the 1939's New York World Fair. It was taken as a piece of invention that was amusing but simply unnecessary as everyone was thinking, "who would actually have time to sit and watch television?". It was also due to the fact that radios provided a more accurate and timely news about WWII compared to the television. 

Late 1940's, four million TV sets were produced but this 10-inch screen set cost a whooping $200 making it a luxury for many families. Years went by and the prices when lower and lower making it very much affordable for all homes. What was once a luxury item turned essential especially when more and more broadcasting channels began sprouting with different and multiple genres like news, comedy and even shopping. 

THE APPLE DON'T FALL FAR FROM STEVE

It all began with a man in 1843 by the name Michael Faraday who conducted a research to see if space could conduct electricity. Now travelling in lightning speed to 1973, Dr. Martin Cooper is credited with inventing the first portable handset (must be an American) and it only took another four years for these cellular phones to hit it hard on public market. In the 37 years in existence, the cellular phone industry grew from a $3 million annually to an empire of $30 billion annually empire. 

You're probably curious to know who uses cell phones? Everyone in the 20th Century! Cell phones or Hand-phones as what we call it now is part of a modern everydayman's necessity. We rely on this handheld devices for social needs, environmental update and even mental and physical entertainment. In fact, these devices are so advance now in the late 2010's that you can do all the above, yes the ABOVE in a single, minimal force of a click.

Transformation in looks for these devices also had a rough, from a small screen with an "okay" number of buttons and dials to "I need more buttons on my phone" to "okay, Steve how about just one button now but- but! With a bigger screen?" to at last, a wide screen with on-screen buttons, no physical ones. Period. 

THE BIGGEST BLACKHOLE

The Internet. Invented in 1967 strictly for military purposes turned into the most basic and bigger information-reliable source known to a modern-day man. This includes electronic mail (email) and sites containing information (websites). Today, the Internet is available everywhere for everyone to access, provided you have connection access or paid your internet supplier. Of course they are many reasons why the Internet is so popular, it provides social needs, entertainment in various forms, countless information from different sources, quick and fresh news every minute and hour all in a single click. And if all that is not enough, there's a help and service line for you to contact and say: hey, I need more. 

EVERYONE JUST WANNA BE FAMOUS

Yet another breakthrough of the century is having social media. A weblog or "blog" first developed in 1997 where users can create online profiles of themselves and "add" friends to their friend list. Simple enough, blogs were thought out as a replacement for journalism with a touch of personal and professional relationships.

Social media also drives on the idea of connectivity, which not only applies to friends from the interstate, but also those out in a foreign country. This motivates people to use this platform to stay connected and also be connected with their social circle. Other than that, social media also keep track of their views per account and show the most relevant or "trending" post that an account or person may like according to their database or simply, their latest searched item. Of course, anything these days are "viral" and it could be a joy... or a nuisance, like a double-edge sword. 

BY: SHARON KWAN (BA18110044)