The next development in communication technology led to the ability for man to think abstractly and have clear, concise records of facts and history. The invention of the written text propelled mankind into the literate age where messages can now be more than an ‘earshot’ away and information is written exactly as it was intended to by the author. Communication over distant areas became feasible instead of reliance on face-to-face communication. For instance, lengthy complex orders could be conveyed over a distance. “Audiences now can be remote in time and space, and the communicator can guarantee that the message received is identical to the one sent.” (Ong, 172) However, the distance between sender and receiver has a positive effect by creating a detachment between speaker and audience. This detachment, allows for the receiver of the message to critically assess the message without pressure of immediate action or audience. The written text led to greater rationality and systematic scholarship in human affairs because it is easier to figure out contradictions or illogicality in writing rather that speech. Now with writing, laws and messages could be passed across distances, religious regulations and records could be kept. All this facilitates the formation of larger civilizations. This new technology assists the person in power to control more subjects with greater distances. “Written communication incorporated small communities into larger states, and states into empires.” (McMurdo, 2002) Thus there was an alliance between sword and pen which enables small communities to be transformed into larger states or even empires. This is still evident even in present day where no single state could function without the reliance of writing for communication over distance.
Yet, reading was possible to only to a few members of society and fewer still could write. Information was no longer a public performance and could be hoarded. Once again, society beckoned for a new type or form of communication, one which is available to the masses. Again, a breakthrough in communication technology came with the infamous invention by Johann Guttenberg, the printing press. The introduction of the printing press thrust society in the print culture, where books could be mass produced and available to all. Now the written word could reach an even greater audience. Printing essentially magnified the consequences of writing. The reliance on an elite group of individuals (the church) for literary works ended with the ability to mass-produce a book. The greater availability of written information, slowly but steadily, caused an increase in literacy. “The way books were produced changed as dramatically as computers today changed productivity in the office environment.” (MacLachlan, 120) As knowledge could now be picked up from a book, the younger generation could by acquire a lifetime of knowledge in a short period of time instead of relying on the people who previously controlled the knowledge. In many ways, the age of unquestioned authority was over.
The printing press revolutionized the content that had been previously written. Since the church had a monopoly over writing, the subject matter had previously been theological works and chronicles. Now the printed books began to include, literary works like “the Iliad” and scientific speculation as well. Also, during this period of print culture, books and newspapers emerged and were mass produced. Printing and mass production of books, created the concept of authorship, decrease of production costs and the increase of sales. With the mass production of books, people’s way of thinking was altered. McLuhan argues (Grossburg, 44) that by the constant linear movement made while reading, changed and standardized peoples way of thinking into a linear one; enabling one to think about other people, space and time linearly. The other standardizing effect was the creation of the national languages and standardized spelling and vocabulary for an individual state. Books were being written in other languages other that Latin, so that writing could reach more people. “Printing gave a strong impetus to the use of national languages instead of Latin and thereby encouraged national feelings.” (MacLachlan, 122) The print culture thus not only increased the access to information and the literacy of the people, but to nationalism, the creation of countries and linear thought. This linear thought, paved the way for a drive to knowledge and discovery which lead to the age of scientific discovery and the electronic age.
The beginning of the electronic age brought a new foundation for communication. Print communication had the ability to cross space, by it was understood by only by a physical means of transportation. The electronic technologies drastically changed that concept. With the invention of the telegraph, messages could now be sent virtually instantaneous and across great distances. “The electronic media have radically transformed our awareness of and conception of both time and space.”(Carey, 216) The ability to send messages quickly separated people’s notion that communication needs transportation time. An example would be a person living in England relaying a message to family in India would have a delay time of months. Yet with the invention of the telegraph, the process was dramatically shortened. The telegraph thus gave society a new perception of space and time.
The electronic means of communication have not only revolutionized how people communicate but how they live also. With the introduction of electronic media, such as television, people strayed from linear thought which reinforced the idea of individuality and privacy. “The effects of the electronic media have been both to reinforce the sense of individuality and privacy to create new form of what McLuhan has called the ‘global village’.” (Grossburg, 45) The global village can only be achieved by a technology that individualizes a person and that which is portable. Theses devices, such as: the portable compact disk player, walkman/radio and the laptop are essential tools where work and information can be transportable. The new medium, the internet, now enables work to be done from home and linked to co-workers, as if they were in the same office. “An e-mail message can be like a formal document, letter, or memo, and may indeed have been created 'offline' and exist in paper form.” (McMurdo. 2002) This created collaborative work to be time and distance independent. Joint operations from one part of the planet to another, joined symbiotically with faxes, e-mails and satellite feeds can now produce what an office staff in one building could. “The inventions of computers have speed up this process, leading to the introduction of infinitely small divisions.” (Grossburg, 46)
The understanding of the new technologies and the history of oral, literate and electronic communication adds insights about the role which it plays and played in human culture. Yet to state that the entire reason for any change in society is due to new technologies, is accurate yet missing some key elements. It is my belief that technological determinism, which Marshall McLuhan argued for, explains most of the change in society that occurred is due to new technologies. Technological determinism is reinforced by Marshall McLuhan’s idea that the medium is the message; the technology used to express an idea, is the message that it intends on sending to the audience. Many of today’s research in communications are based on that principle. For example “what effect does television have on youth?” (Hodge and Tripp, 128) Another example would be how MacLachlan argues that an entire religion, the protestant religion, was forged using the technology of print newspaper to voice discontent with the Catholic Church.
Yet the technological determinist view does not account for all the events in history. Technological determinism states that new technologies are “created accidentally and they are a result of research and development.”(Grossburg, 45) Nevertheless, a primary critique of Marshall McLuhan and technological determinism, Raymond Williams, states that “Communication technologies have been sought in the context of solving particular social needs. These needs were often military and political, not economic and cultural”. I tend to agree that the creation of technology was forged for military and political gains, yet I believe that the results and transference to social needs had a greater effect on history. For example, Arnold Pacey states that writing was created for political purposes like records of transactions and events, but its implications and uses had a far greater effect on the culture of the people. Therefore I conclude that the orientation of the world changed due to new technologies as technological determinists would state.
Although technological determinism explains most of the occurrences in history is does not account for some important factors. The main fault with technological determinism is the power that an individual has over himself. “Technological determinism also ignores the active role of people (and social institutions) have in making there own lives.” (Grossburg, 49) It misses the ‘human’ element, where one individual has the power to control his or her destiny and it doesn’t necessarily get affected by a new technological development. The effects of a technology depends how an individual uses it and thus has varying impact on society and history. Also, I believe that there is evidence that some themes have stayed the same through the times. In the oral culture, power was given to the person who was the most captivating speaker and has the most knowledge. Isn’t this the same for today? Our politicians are captivating speakers or they would not get elected. They have the ability to restrict information and withhold knowledge. Although they use different mediums to present there opinions, the opinions are the same. Even all the Pope’s were or are captivating speakers and the in the Middle Ages, notorious for trying to hoard all the power and information such as writing. The uniform message from oral to electronic times further reinforces the idea that some technologies have different effects on people as well as history.
Technology and communication revolutionized human life as a society and as a culture. New technology determines, for the most part, how life will change in the future. One of the first technologies, oral communication, created a culture which significantly changed human behavior. The transmission of information became possible and ideas were passed on from generation to generation. The invention of writing not only made it possible to keep an accurate account of events, but actually changed the way people think, into a linear way. The printing press and the literate culture created information available to the masses, unification of peoples and the explosion into the world of discovery and science. This explosion leads to the electronic culture, where communication became instant with telegraphs, television, telephone, radio and internet. Society’s approach to work, space and time changed from a linear way of thinking and doing things into to a diverse way. Messages and information are instantaneous around the globe and with the ability of portable technology, instantaneous information and communication are possible anywhere. Each mode of communication, throughout history, had been created by the introduction of new technologies and its ability to change society.
Bibliography
1 Carey, J.W., Communication as Culture: Essays on Media and Society. (Boston: Uwin Hyman, 1989)
2. Hodge, B. and Tripp. D., Children and Television: A semiotic approach (Cambridge: Polity press, 1986)
3. Grossburg, L. et al., MediaMaking: Mass Media in a Popular Culture (Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 1998)
4. MacLauhlan, J., Children of Prometheus: A History of Science and Technology (Toronto: Wall & Emerson Inc., 1998)
5. McMurdo, G. Changing Context of Communications (Edinburgh: , 2002)
6. Ong, W. Orality and Literacy (London: Methuen, 1982)
7. Pacey, A., Technology in World Civilization (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1990)
8. Williams, R., Television: Technology and Cultural Form (New York: Schocken press, 1975)
