The Past and Future of Communication Technology

History of the computer and internet was the main discussion in today's lecture. Origins of today's computer came from the 19th century Difference Engine which was designed by Charles Babbage, who was born in 1791. It calculated and prints mathematical tables. Unfortunately he was never able to actually build the whole machine himself. Later on a woman called Ada Byron, who was born in 1815 created the first computer program as well as other musical machines.

According to our lecturer's notes, the first computers were created in the 1950s mainly for the military, government and corporate work. They were quite large and expensive machines back in the day. However computers were quickly redesigned and became smaller, faster as well as less expensive so that households could afford them, too. Personally I think it is just amazing and am somehow lost for words about how people managed to design and create early machines and computers, which are so complex, hundreds of years ago. Especially nowadays, how quickly the computer is constantly being redesigned and updated for better and easier use.

The internet was created in the 1960s by the RAND corporation. According to my university notes "By applying game theory, RAND developed a scheme for communication, command and control network that would survive a nuclear war because it has no central control, and could reform around communication services left intact". In the 1990s the World Wide Web or the 'Web' was created so that people could use it to communicate from one computer user to another. Let's face it, that creation has been life changing for absolutely everyone online user. It is an amazingly developed communication technology.

Looking through various communication technology videos, I came across "The Future of Communication (technology)" on youtube. It summarizes how communication technology has developed in the past and then shows some interesting ideas about what technology will most likely be like in the near future. I wonder just how many of his ideas will be developed and if any of his theories will come true...

 

I have also found a rather humorous video about the future of communication technology. The men do speak in another language but English subtitles appear after a little while. Please have a look below and let me know what you think! :-)

The third video I'd like to show you is called 'Technical Communication Today', it illustrates the path that communication technology has taken over our human existence. I especially liked this video because it made me realise just how much communication has changed over the years and what influence it has on the population.