1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910822967903321

Autore

Winston Brian

Titolo

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

Pubbl/distr/stampa

London ; ; New York, : Routledge, 1998

ISBN

1-134-76632-7

1-280-33182-8

0-203-02437-0

1-134-76633-5

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (389 p.)

Altri autori (Persone)

WinstonBrian

Disciplina

302.23

303.483309

Soggetti

Mass media - Technological innovations - History

Communication - Technological innovations - History

Communication - Social aspects

Mass media - Social aspects

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Rev. ed. of: Misunderstanding media. 1986.

Nota di bibliografia

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

Nota di contenuto

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

Sommario/riassunto

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.