Media technology and society : a history : from the telegraph to the Internet / Brian Winston.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Winston, Brian.

Contributor:

Winston, Brian.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mass media--Technological innovations--History.

Mass media.

Communication--Technological innovations--History.

Communication.

Communication--Social aspects.

Mass media--Social aspects.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (389 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 1998.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Challenging the popular myth of a present-day 'information revolution', Media Technology and Society is essential reading for anyone interested in the social impact of technological change. Winston argues that the development of new media forms, from the telegraph and the telephone to computers, satellite and virtual reality, is the product of a constant play-off between social necessity and suppression: the unwritten law by which new technologies are introduced into society only insofar as their disruptive potential is limited.

Contents:

Cover; MEDIA TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY: A HISTORY: FROM THE TELEGRAPH TO THE INTERNET; Copyright; CONTENTS; FIGURES; ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; INTRODUCTION: A STORM FROM PARADISE: TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION, DIFFUSION AND SUPPRESSION; THE INFORMATION REVOLUTION AS HYPERBOLE; MODELLING CHANGE; 'INVENTION'; PART I PROPAGATING SOUND AT CONSIDERABLE DISTANCES; 1 THE TELEGRAPH; SCIENTIFIC COMPETENCE TO IDEATION: STATIC ELECTRICAL TELEGRAPHS; PROTOTYPES, NECESSITY AND 'INVENTION': DYNAMIC ELECTRICAL TELEGRAPHS; SUPPRESSION AND DIFFUSION: OWNING THE TELEGRAPH; 2 BEFORE THE SPEAKING TELEPHONE

SCIENTIFIC COMPETENCE: THE TELEPHONEIDEATION: SPEECH TRANSMITTED BY ELECTRICITY; PROTOTYPES: ELECTRICAL SPEAKING TELEPHONES BEFORE 1877; 3 THE CAPTURE OF SOUND; SUPERVENING NECESSITY: THE TELEPHONE AND THE OFFICE; 'INVENTION': CREATING THE TELEPHONE TO ORDER; SUPPRESSION AND DIFFUSION: THE TELEPHONE AFTER 1900; 'INVENTING' A SPIN-OFF: THE RECORD; PART II THE VITAL SPARK AND FUGITIVE PICTURES; 4 WIRELESS AND RADIO; SCIENTIFIC COMPETENCE TO IDEATION: FROM SPARK TO WIRELESS; NECESSITY, DIFFUSION AND SUPPRESSION: IRONCLADS AND TELEGRAMS; 'INVENTION': FROM WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY TO RADIO

IDEATION AND NECESSITY: THE IDEA OF BROADCASTINGSUPPRESSION AND DIFFUSION: VALVES/TUBES, FM AND CARTELS; LIVING WITH RADIO; 5 MECHANICALLY SCANNED TELEVISION; SCIENTIFIC COMPETENCE: LIGHT AND ELECTRICITY; IDEATION: FAXES AND 'FUGITIVE PICTURES'; PROTOTYPES: MECHANICAL SCANNING; 6 ELECTRONICALLY SCANNED TELEVISION; INVENTION I: ELECTRONIC SCANNING; INVENTION II: ALTERNATIVE ELECTRONIC SCANNING; NECESSITY AND SUPPRESSION: ENTERTAINMENT; SUPPRESSING TELEVISION: 1935-48; SUPPRESSING TELEVISION: 1948 TO THE MID-1950S; 7 TELEVISION SPIN-OFFS AND REDUNDANCIES

SPIN-OFFS AND REDUNDANCIES: VCRS, CDS ET AL.REDUNDANCY: 1125-LINE ANALOGUE TELEVISION; PART III INVENTIONS FOR CASTING UP SUMS VERY PRETTY; 8 MECHANISING CALCULATION; SCIENTIFIC COMPETENCE I: 'THINKING MACHINES'; SCIENTIFIC COMPETENCE II: BABBAGE; SCIENTIFIC COMPETENCE III: CALCULATORS-MECHANICAL TO ELECTRICAL; PROTOTYPES: ELECTRO-MECHANICAL CALCULATORS; 9 THE FIRST COMPUTERS; ELECTRONIC PROTOTYPES I: ENIAC AND 'THE FIRING TABLE CRISIS'; ELECTRONIC PROTOTYPES II: COLOSSUS VS. ENIGMA; IDEATION: 'THE STORE'; SUPERVENING SOCIAL NECESSITY: THE H-BOMB; 'INVENTION': INCUNABULA

10 SUPPRESSING THE MAIN FRAMESNO BUYERS; NO LANGUAGES; NO BABIES; 11 THE INTEGRATED CIRCUIT; SUPPRESSION (CONT.): IGNORING SOLID STATE ELECTRONICS; SCIENTIFIC COMPETENCE: CAT'S WHISKERS TO TRANSISTOR; TRANSISTORS VS. VALVES; IDEATION AND PROTOTYPE: THE INTEGRATED CIRCUIT; 'INVENTION': THE MICROPROCESSOR; 12 THE COMING OF THE MICROCOMPUTER; SUPPRESSION REVISITED: THE COMPUTER INDUSTRY; DIFFUSION AND SPIN-OFFS: PC PRODUCTION; PART IV THE INTRICATE WEB OF TRAILS, THIS GRAND SYSTEM; 13 THE BEGINNINGS OF NETWORKS; THE FIRST WIRED NETWORK; THE TELEPHONE NETWORK

14 NETWORKS AND RECORDING TECHNOLOGIES

Notes:

Rev. ed. of: Misunderstanding media. 1986.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 343-360) and index.

Related Work:

Winston, Brian. Misunderstanding media.

ISBN:

1-134-76632-7

1-280-33182-8

0-203-02437-0

1-134-76633-5

9780203024379

OCLC:

51733682