Thehi

stor
yofcommuni
cat
ion
Thecompl et
ehist
or yofcommunicat
ioni
simportantbutext
ensiv
e.Thisbri
efgui
detothe
hist
oryofcommuni cati
onwil
lbr
eakdownt hekeytools,
advancements,andi
nnovat
ions
thatchangedthegame.

Anci
ent
 communi
cat
ion
Ancientmanwasf or
cedtobecr eati
vewit
hcommunicati
onandkeepi tconsi
stentt
o
maintai
nacommonunder standing.Whenspeechor
igi
natedar ound500,
000BCE,
communi cat
ionwaschanged,butthesyst
em wasnotperfectandneededassi
stance.

Whil
e ver
balcommuni cati
on wasusedinancientt
imes,symbol sandimagesweresti
ll
usedtoport
rayi
nformation.Theearl
iestpr
ovenform ofthi
siscav epai
nti
ngs.These
i
magesusuallyi
ncludedscenesofhunt i
ngwil
danimal sorstencil
sofhumanhands.

Communi cat
ionforanci
entmanbecamemor ecomplexasvariat
ionsofcavepaint
ings
evolv
edi ntopict
ograms.Pictogr
amsarei
magesthatrepr
esentasimpleplaceorobject
.
Later
,ideogramswer ecreatedandusedt
ocommunicateconcepts.

Peopleduringancientti
mescanof t
enbedepi ct
edassav ageandunintel
li
gent,butt
he
oppositeistr
ue.Thecommuni cati
oncraftedduri
ngt hi
sper i
odmov edfrom si
mpl e
drawingsofpeopleandani malst
o vi
sualcommuni cat
ion t
hatcouldexpressenti
reideas
withonesy mbol.Theirbr
ainpowerfuel
edt heori
ginaluseofallty
pesofcommuni cati
on
thatevolv
edintothechannelsweuset oday.

Whil
ecommuni
cat
ionsawal
otofadv
ancement
sdur
inganci
entt
imes,
thatwasonl
ythe
begi
nni
ng.

15t
hand16t
hcent
ury
 communi
cat
ion
Communi cati
onsawnewdev elopmentsbet weenancienttimesandthe15thcent
ury.Butif
wedov eintoall
ofthat,ourentirehi
storywoul dbereadingorwr i
ti
ngabout
communi cati
on’
shi st
ory.Whileiti
sinteresti
ng,we’
veal lgotthi
ngstodo.SoI
’l
lkeepitbri
ef:
Forthemostpar t,
communi cationbeforet he15thcenturyincl
udedver
balcommunicati
on
andlimit
ed wri
ttencommuni cat i
on.Peoplespoket oeachot herandwrot
ehandwrit
ten
notesforanindivi
dualoragroup.

Thisal
lchangedafterthepri
nti
ngpr esswasi nvented.TheBiShengandWangChen
dynast
iesinChinai
nv entedt
hef i
rstprint
ingpressinthe1300s,remov i
ngt
heneedtohand
writ
eallpapermessages.About150y earslat
er,JohannesGutenbergofGermanycr
aft
eda
modernizedver
sionoft hepr
int
ingpr essthatwasabl etomasspr oducepr
int
edmateri
als.

Gut
enberg’
sver
sionoft
hepr
int
ingpr
essst
art
edt
heper
iodknownast
hePr
int
ing
Rev
olut
ion.
Pr
inti
ngpressesweref oundi nciti
esal
lacr
ossEuropeandwer eusedt oprintl
arge
amountsofmat er
ial
st hatwer emeantforwidespr
eaddistr
ibut
ion.Wri
ttenandpr i
nted
materi
alsbecameallther age,leadi
ngt
oev enmoreinnovati
onstocreate,dupl
icat
eand
ci
rcul
ateit
.

Thei
nventi
onoft hepri
nti
ngpressgavepeopl
etheabili
tytoconv eni
ent
lyproducelarge
amountsofwrit
tenmat er
ial
,butmorei
mportant
ly,
itsupportedthefl
owofi nformati
on
amongpeople.Thatisthetr
uepurposeofcommunicati
on: sendi
ngandr ecei
v i
ng
messages.Andev ent
uall
y,t
hatal
sobecamepossible.

17t
hcent
ury
 communi
cat
ion
Theconti
nuedpopulari
tyofwr i
ttencommunicat
ioncausedthePri
ntingRev
oluti
ontospi
l
l
i
ntothe17thcentury
.Scienti
stsweresti
l
lpubli
shingt
heirdi
scover
iesandauthors
cont
inuedtotel
lstor
ies,butatthesametime,alotwashappeni
ngi ntheworl
d.

War ,
famine,anddominati
onbecamer egul
arconcer
nsof17t
hcenturypeopl
e.Ment i
onsof
theseeventssti
rredupalotofcur
iosit
yamongpeopl et
hatwereoutofthegeographical
l
oop.In1690, t
henewspaperwasi nventedtoaccommodatethosepeopl
e.Citi
esallover
theworldgotintothehabi
tofpubl
ishinganewspaperwithl
ocalandint
ernat
ionalnewsto
keeppeopleinformed.

Bef
orethe17t
hcentur
y,informati
onwasknownandrecor
ded,
butopti
onstor el
easeitwere
l
imi
ted.Wit
hnewspapersact i
ngasapri
marysour
ceofinf
ormati
on,
communi cati
oninthe
17t
hcentur
ybegantoreflectthemoder
ndaycommunicat
ionmodelofsenderandreceiv
er.

18t
hcent
ury
 communi
cat
ion
Inthe18thcentury
,thepubli
cpostal
syst
em wasestabli
shed.Lett
ersweresentbef
oret
his
ti
meper i
od,butthesystem wasfl
awedandineff
ici
ent
.Deli
verycouldtakemonths,
and
evenwhent hemaildidreachit
sdesti
nat
ion,
itwaslef
tatar andom publ
icpl
ace.

BenjaminFrankl
i
n’si
nvol
vementint
heU.S.post
alsystem madethedeli
ver
yofmailmore
producti
ve.Rout
eswereest
abli
shedtoboostef
fi
ciency,
postoff
iceswerecreat
edtokeep
dropoffandpickupl
ocati
onsconsi
stent
,andcost
swer esetinplacet
omaket hebusi
ness
profi
tabl
e.

Theremodel
ingofthepostal
serviceal
lowedthesenderandr
ecei
vercommunicat
ion
model t
ocat
ertopersonal
informati
on.Sure,
anewspapercantel
lyouaboutt
hehealt
hof
theeconomy,butati
melyl
etterfr
om anoldfri
endwil
lmakeyousmi l
e.

19t
hcent
ury
 communi
cat
ion
Asthe19thcentur
ycamearound,thegreatmindsworkingt
owardsi
mpr
ovi
ng
communicati
ontookalar
gestep.Elect
ri
cit
ywasi ncor
porat
edi
nto 
communi
cat
ion
channel
s,coi
ningthet
ermtel
ecommuni cati
ons.
Tel
ecommuni cat
ionsisthesendi
ngandr ecei
vingofi
nfor
mati
onusingelect
roni
cmeans.
Thi
scani ncl
udewire,
radio,
oranyotherelect
romagneti
cdevi
ce.Thecombinati
onof
el
ectr
ici
tyandcommuni cati
onsparkedthebeginni
ngofalongwaveofinnovati
ons.

Thef i
rstoftheseinventi
onswast heel
ectr
ictel
egraphi
n1831byamannamedJoseph
Henry.Thistypeoftelegraphal
l
owedmessagest obesentandr
ecei
vedov
erl
ong
di
stances.Itcontri
butedtotheproduct
ivi
tyofdi
stri
buti
ngnewsandcommuni
cat
ing
i
nternall
yforbusinesses.

Thepopulari
tyoftheelectr
ictel
egraphwasstil
lati
tspeakwhenAlexanderGraham Bell
i
nvent
edt hetel
ephonei n1876.Thet el
ephoneal
lowedtwopeopl
etocommuni cat
ev er
ball
y
wit
hdevicesthatconvertedthesound,asopposedtospeaki
ngfacetoface.

Tel
ecommunicat
ionsprovi
dedpeopl ewithawaytomakelongdist
ancewr
it
tenandver
bal
communi
cati
onper sonal
.Distancebecamelessofaprobl
em f
orpeopl
ewhowantedto
communi
cateverball
y,i
ncreasingthefl
owofinfor
mati
on.

20t
hcent
ury
 communi
cat
ion
The20t
hcent
urywasabusyt
imef
orcommuni
cat
ion.

Radioandtel
evi
sionbecameagreatsourceofinf
ormati
oni
ntheear
ly1900s.Notonl
ydid
theyprovi
demusical
enter
tai
nment,butt
heyalsodeli
ver
ednews,
sport
s,andweathert
o
l
istener
s.

Thi
siswher
eitst
art
stogetev
enbusi
er.

Thetelephonebecamemobi l
ein1981,butthewordmobil
eisusedlooselyher
e.Thef i
rst
versi
onsoft hemobi
let
elephonewerenotintendedtobecar
ri
edaroundony ourpersonli
ke
theyarenow.Theywereheavydutypiecesofequipmentt
hatwereusuall
yonlyfoundin
carsandt r
ains.

Oncet hemobilephonebecamepocket
-f
riendl
yint
he1990s,morepeoplewerei
ncli
nedto
buythem.Phonecompani esst
art
edsell
ingpayasyougoplansandotherphonecontr
act
s,
fuel
ingtheindust
ry.Al
so,anewfor
m ofwr i
tt
encommunicat
ionwascreated.Weknowit
todayastextmessaging.

Advancement
sinthephoneindustr
ywerej
ustt
hebegi
nni
ng.Communicat
ioncont
inuedt
o
sur
priset
heworl
d,thankst
ot wothi
ngs:
thecomput
erandtheI
nter
net
.

Thecomput erwasinventedtowar
dsthebeginningofthe20thcent
ury,
butthef
eatur
esf
or
communi cati
onwer enotcreat
edunti
lthemidtol at
e1900s.I
n1965,onli
newri
tt
en
communi cati
onexpandedintoemail
,completel
ychangingthegame.Tomakeitevenmore
enti
cingforuser
s,thesesystemssoonadaptedt hemeanstoshareent
irefi
l
esor
photographs.

Then,
aft
ert
heper
sonal
comput
er(
PC)wasi
ntr
oducedi
nthe70s,
comput
ersy
stems
sl
owlybecameacommonhouseholdtool
,especial
l
yforcommunicat
ion.Thecombi
nat
ion
ofaPCandt heI
nter
netmadewr
it
tencommuni cati
onfast
,easy
,andconveni
ent.

Aft
erreadingthat,
weal l
knowt hatemailandPCswer ejustt
hebeginni
ngoft hemost
i
mpor t
antinnovati
onsincommuni cati
on.Butt
heseor i
ginscan’
tbeforgot
ten.Every
communi cati
ontoolusedtodaywassomehowi nf
luencedbysimpleonesfrom thelongand
never
-endinghist
oryofcommuni cati
on.

21stcent
ury
 communi
cat
ion
Nowf orthebigone:21stcenturycommuni cati
on.Whent hi
nkingofmoder nday
communi cat
ion,keepi
ngtheideaoft heInformati
onAgei nmindisimportant.The
Infor
mationAgei schar
acter
izedast heeconomi ctr
ansit
ionfr
om industr
ytoi nfor
mat i
on
technol
ogy.Simplyput,ev
erythingi
sdigi
t alandknowledgehasneverbeenmor epower f
ul.
Peoplewantinformati
on,andt hebestwayt ogetiti
sthroughcommuni cati
ont ools.

I
t’
snosurpri
set
hatascommunicati
ongotfast er
,thehumanracebecamemoreimpati
ent
wi
thit
.Communicati
onoft
he21stcenturykeptupwi t
hthese“needs”bycr
eat
ingev
en
moretool
sandi
ncreasi
ngt
heeffi
ciencyofexisti
ngones.

Videoconferencingsoftwareisaperfectexampleofcommunicati
ontechnology
accommodat ingt othefast
-pacedInf
ormat i
onAge.Peoplenolongerhadtobeinthesame
placefor“f
acet oface”communi cati
on.Thiswasahugedev el
opmentf orpeopl
eand
businesseswhof requentl
ycommuni catefrom l
ongdist
ances.

Anotherdomi natorof21stcent ur
ycommuni cat
iontoolsissocialmedia.Soci
almedia
websitesareonlinecommuni cati
onandnetworkingtoolswher epeopl
ecanconnectand
shareideas.Thedi f
ferentsocialmedi
asit
eswer ereleasedquicklyandwithli
tt
leti
mein
between.Herei salit
tl
et i
melinetoshowwhenandhowr api
dlytheyemergedintot
he
communi cati
oni ndustry.

Thesesoci
almediawebsi
tesincl
udedtool
sforpeopl
etoshar
eper
sonal
cont
entwi
thei
ther
anindi
vi
dualoragroupi
naf ormalori
nfor
malway.

Text
ingcausedadomi noef fectofnewmobi lephonefeatur
es,aswellasimprovement
sin
exi
sti
ngones.In2003,Internetcapabi
li
ti
eswer eaddedtomobi lephones.Thi
s.Was.Huge.
Peoplestar
tedcar
ryi
ngl i
ttl
ecomput er
si nthei
rpocket
s, andthesmartphonewaswellon
i
tswayt ochangi
ngthegameev enfur
ther.

Speakingofsmart
phones,t
heyshowedupl essthanfiveyear
slat
er.Andal
ongwi t
h
smartphonescameamul t
i-
bil
l
iondol
larindust
ry:apps.Appscondenseddi
ff
erentwebsi
tes
andmadet hem moremobil
ephonefriendl
y.

I’
m sureyou’veheardthephrase,“There’
sanappf orthat
.”Andthereprobabl
yi s.Whi l
e
ther
ear eplentyofappsthatdon’tdir
ectl
ycontri
butetocommuni cati
nginfor
mat ion,there
arealsoplentythatdo.Newsout l
ets,soci
almediawebsites,andsearchengineshav eall
provi
deduser swithapps,al
lowingformobi l
e-f
ri
endlymassandper sonalcommuni cati
on.
Theimportanceofi
nformati
oninthe21stcenturywasf uel
edbyadv ancementsin
technol
ogyandcommuni cat
ion.Theartofprovi
dingtoolsf
orpersonal,pr
ofessi
onal
and
widespr
eadcommuni cati
onwasmast ered.Whatat i
met obeali
ve!