Information transmission is the process of moving information from a source to the user.

Information is an important factor of production in today’s business world. It originates from a

source before it gets to the user.

For information to move from source to the user, there could be some degrees of processing.
These degrees or levels of information processing are called information evolution.

The reliability of information and its relevance as a factor of production depends on the source.
Also, the usability of information by the end-user depends on the efficiency of the transmission
channels. Therefore, information transmission and information evolution are indispensable in
today’s business environment.

Information evolution and information transmission are key aspects of information technology
that should not be overlooked. In this article, we discussed the two topics in detail for the benefit
of the Junior Secondary school students.

We used the information technology curriculum for Junior secondary schools to prepare this
article. Therefore, beginners in the world of information technology will benefit from it.

In this article, you will learn and understand the meaning of:

 Information technology
 Information transmission
 Information evolution
 Methods and modes of information transmission, and
 Stages of information evolution.

Table of Contents  Hide Contents 

1. Definition of Basic Terms
1.1. What is ICT?
1.2. What is information Evolution?
1.3. What is Information Transmission?
2. Methods of Information Transmission
2.1. Ancient Methods of Information Transmission
2.2. Modern Methods of Information Transmission
2.3. Classification of Means of Information transmission
3. Modes of Information Transmission
4. Stages of Information Evolution
4.1. The invention of Printing
4.2. The invention of Radio and Television
4.3. The Invention of Computer
4.4. The Link between Computers and ICT
5. Notes
6. Share this:
6.1. Like this:
7. Related

Definition of Basic Terms

In this section, we are going to define the following terms:

 ICT
 Information transmission, and
 Information evolution

What is ICT?

ICT means Information and Communication Technology. It is an umbrella term that is used to
define communication devices that use digital technology. They include communication devices
that input, store, retrieve, manipulate and transmit digital data.

These communication devices or applications include radio, television, cellular phones,

computer and network hardware and software, and satellite systems.

What is information Evolution?

Information evolution could be defined as a process of changing from simple techniques of data
and information processing to complex and advanced methods through inventions and
innovations.
Printing (Credit: Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com)
When information originates from a source, there is need for it to be processed for efficient
information transmission.

Information evolution could be classified into four different stages, namely:

 the invention of printing,

 the invention of the radio and television,
 the invention of computers, and
 the linking up of computers with information and communication technology (ICT).

What is Information Transmission?

Information transmission is the process of passing information from the source end to the
receiving end. It could be defined as the physical transfer of information from point-to-point or
point-to-multipoint in a communication channel.

Point-to-point and Point-to-multipoint Information Transmission

The channel could be copper wires, optical fibers, wireless communication channels, or storage
media. The data transmitted are represented as an electromagnetic signal, such as an electrical
voltage, radio wave, microwave, or infrared signal.
Methods of Information Transmission
Information becomes relevant to the productive world if it leaves the source to the users. For
information to reach the users, there are channels or methods of transmitting the information.

Different methods have been used at different times of civilization. During ancient times, there
are methods of information transmission used. And in the world, today, faster and more accurate
methods are in use.

METHODS OF INFORMATION TRANSMISSION

You can find some of the ancient methods of information transmission in use today. This is
because these methods are indispensable. Let’s look at the ancient and modern methods of
information transmission.

Ancient Methods of Information Transmission

In the ancient methods of information transmission, information is being passed on from the
source end to the receiving end without using electronic communication channels. The ancient
methods include:

1. Oral: This method enables one to pass information across to the receiving end through
face-to-face contact. The source is required to speak through the mouth to the audience face
to face. This method is still being used today.
2. Beating Drum: In communities and villages, drum beats are used to pass on information
to the inhabitants of such communities. In such communities, the sound of the drumbeat
determines the type of message being passed across. This method is still in use in most
communities.
3. Fire Lighting: Some communities use fire lighting to convey information. In this case,
fire is lightened at a strategic place and the smoke sends a signal across to the inhabitants.
4. Town crying: Town criers are people who use iron or wooden gongs to draw the attention
of inhabitants of a community before passing information across to them. They walk on foot
from one village to another, disseminating information to the inhabitants of the community.
5. Whistling: Blowing off the whistle could be used as a means of drawing peoples’
attention or passing information across in some places.
6. Drawing diagrams: The drawing of diagrams or the use of signs and signals are
important methods of communication. They are used for directions and notifications of
important landmarks and features.
7. Making Representation: This is a means whereby someone stands in for another and
passes on the information necessary in the absence of the person being represented. This
method is popular in a political

Task one:

Identify the ancient methods of communication still in practice in your area and communicate
the same in the comment section.
Modern Methods of  Information Transmission

The modern methods of information transmission usually use electronic communication

channels. Below are some of the popularly known methods.

1. Prints: This is a means whereby information is typewritten on papers and passed on to

the appropriate audience. Examples include letters, textbooks, magazines, newspapers, etc.
2. Telephone: A telephone is a communication device that allows two or more users to
communicate. It is a kind of face-to-face communication when the users are not physically
present. Telephone communication guarantees instant feedback between users.
3. Telex: Telex is a device that allows one to send across text messages through a switched
network of teleprinters. The use of telex has declined recently due to the advent of facsimile
and electronic mails.
4. Radio: Radio is used to broadcast audio information to a group of people at the same
time. The group of people could be in different locations, buts within the radio transmission
area. One must have access to a radio device to be able to receive radio signals.
5. Television: Television is used to broadcast audio-visual information to a group of people
at the same time. The group of people could be in different locations but within the TV
transmission area. One must have access to a TV device to be able to receive TV signals.
6. Facsimile: Fax is a machine that transmits the scanned form of texts and images through
a telephone line that is connected to a printer. Fax can be used to transfer both texts and
images.
7. Satellite: Satellite is an object placed into orbit for purposes such as earth surveillance,
communication, weather forecasts, etc. Communication satellites are used for
telecommunications, radio and tv broadcasting, and more.
8. Internet: This is a global system of interconnected computer networks of private, public,
academic, business, and government networks. Anyone at any location with the right devices
can have access to the information shared on the internet.
9. GSM: Global System for Mobile communication is an open, digital cellular technology
used for transmitting mobile voice and data services. It was developed by the European
Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).

Classification of Means of Information transmission

There are two major means of transmitting information, namely:

 electronic and
 non-electronic.

In electronic means, information transmission is from the sender to the receiver via an electronic
communication channel. Electronic means of information transmission include telephone,
telegraph, telex, radio, etc.

The non-electronic means of transmitting information do not require electronic communication

channels. Nonelectronic means of transmitting information include prints such as letters, memos,
etc.; orals, drum beats, fire lighting, whistling, etc.
All modern methods of information transmission except prints are electronic means of
transmitting the information. Similarly, all ancient methods of information transmission
including prints are non-electronic means of transmitting the information.

Modes of Information Transmission

When information is transmitted from a source to the destination, there different modes of
receiving such information. There are three (3) main modes of information transmission: audio,
visual, and audio-visual.

1. Audio: This is a model that permits the receiver of information to listen to the content of
information disseminated anywhere through a device that produces sound. All methods of
transmitting information that enables the receiver to hear sound from the sender utilize audio
mode. Examples of audio modes include radio, telephone conversation, oral, beating drums,
whistling, and town crying.
2. Visual: This is a mode of receiving information through a form that can be read or looked
at. The receiver does not require an additional device to read such information when they are
transmitted. This includes all methods of information transmission that enable the receiver to
see and read the transmitted information. Examples are prints, email, telex, fax, internet,
gsm, fire lighting, and drawing diagrams.
3. Audio-visual: Audiovisual mode combines the power of audio and visual modes to
deliver information that is more understandable to the receiver. These include all methods of
disseminating information that enables the receiver to see and hear the transmitted
information. Examples of audio-visual modes include television, making representation,
satellite communication, the internet, and GSM.

Stages of Information Evolution

The invention of Printing

Printing could be defined as a process for reproducing text and images on paper with ink or toner
using a printing press. The invention of printing with movable type marks the beginning of
modern printing and the advent of the information explosion. Prior to this period, records have it
that the number of manuscript books in Europe can be counted in thousands while 50 years after
the invention of printing, available books were more than 9 million. The invention of printing
with movable type is credited to a German Goldsmith, Johannes Gutenberg in 1439.[1]

1. Modern printing started with block printing. In block printing text and images are carved
in woods. The carved woods are inked and pressed on a paper or textile. It is still in use by
graphic artists to make banners. Books that were written during this period were copied by
hand.
2. After block printing, the next was lithography[2]. This is a method of printing on a
smooth surface. It is still in use by most old printers.
3. After lithography were color printing, screen printing, and flexography. Flexographic
printing is a modern printing method that can be used to print banners, labels, bags, and
plastics.
4. In 1960, Xerox introduced a xerographic office photocopier and a modified xerographic
copier which gave rise to the invention of laser printers in 1969.
5. Dot-matrix printer was invented in 1970 while digital printing began in 1993.

The invention of Radio and Television

Radio and television were major agents of social change in the 20th century. It opened windows
to learning other peoples’ cultures. It also brings distant events directly into the homes of
millions all over the world.

Radio is a technology of wireless transmission of information by means of electromagnetic

waves. The invention of the radio was facilitated by two other inventions: the telegraph and
the telephone. These three technologies are closely related. Radio technology began as “wireless
telegraphy”. The invention of the radio started with the discovery of radio waves.

Television is based on the principle of successive transmission of frames by means of scanning.

The first television sets were commercially available in 1930. Today we have a digital television
which uses digital technologies that allow a better quality of the TV image.

In 1925 Scottish inventor John Logie Baird successfully transmits the first recognizable image—
the head of a ventriloquist’s dummy—at a London department store, using a device he calls a
Televisor.

The Invention of Computer

The ideas of many scientists and engineers led to the invention of the computer. These ideas
were developed in the 1930s and 1940s, mostly independently of each other, in Germany, Great
Britain, and the USA, and were turned into working machines. The computer started as an
abacus, invented in Babylon in 3000BC.

In 1617, John Napier of Scotland invented logarithms, a system that shows how to divide by
subtraction and how to multiply by addition.

In 1642, Blaise Pascal built the first numerical calculating machine (first digital computer) in
Paris.

In 1886 William Burroughs developed the first commercially mechanical adding machine that
was successful. The advent of modern computing began in 1930. The table below summarized
each invention, date, and description.

Year Inventors/Inventions Description of Event

1936 Konrad Zuse – Z1 Computer First freely programmable computer.

1942 John Atanasoff & Clifford Berry ABC Who was first in the computing biz is not
Computer always as easy as ABC.

1944 Howard Aiken & Grace Hopper Harvard The Harvard Mark 1 computer.
Mark I Computer

1946 John Presper Eckert & John W. 20,000 vacuum tubes

Mauchly ENIAC 1 Computer

1948 Frederic Williams & Tom Baby and the Williams Tube turn on the
Kilburn Manchester Baby Computer & memories.
The Williams Tube

1947/48 John Bardeen, Walter Brattain & William No, a transistor is not the computer, but this
Shockley The Transistor invention greatly affected the history of
computers.

1951 John Presper Eckert & John W. First commercial computer & able to pick
Mauchly UNIVAC Computer presidential winners.

1953 International Business Machines IBM 701 IBM enters into ‘The History of Computers’.
EDPM Computer

1954 John Backus & IBM FORTRAN Computer The first successful high-level programming
Programming Language language.

1955 (In Stanford Research Institute, Bank of The first bank industry computer – also MICR
Use 1959) America, and General Electric ERMA and (magnetic ink character recognition) for
MICR reading checks.

1958 Jack Kilby & Robert Noyce The Integrated Otherwise known as ‘The Chip’
Circuit

1962 Steve Russell & MIT Spacewar Computer the first computer game invented.
Game

1964 Douglas Engelbart Computer Mouse & Nicknamed the mouse because the tail came
Windows out the end.

1969 ARPAnet The original Internet.

1970 Intel 1103 Computer Memory The world’s first available dynamic RAM
 chip.

1971 Faggin, Hoff & Mazor Intel 4004 Computer The first microprocessor.
Microprocessor

1971 Alan Shugart &IBM The “Floppy” Disk Nicknamed the “Floppy” for its flexibility.

1973 Robert Metcalfe & Xerox The Ethernet Networking.

Computer Networking

1974/75 Scelbi & Mark-8 Altair & IBM 5100 The first consumer computers.
Computers

1976/77 Apple I, II & TRS-80 & Commodore Pet More first consumer computers.
Computers

1978 Dan Bricklin & Bob Frankston VisiCalc Any product that pays for itself in two weeks
Spreadsheet Software is a surefire winner.

1979 Seymour Rubenstein & Rob Word Processors.

Barnaby WordStar Software

1981 IBM The IBM PC – Home Computer From an “Acorn” grows a personal computer
revolution

1981 Microsoft MS-DOS Computer Operating From “Quick And Dirty” comes the operating
System system of the century.

1983 Apple Lisa Computer The first home computer with a GUI.

1984 Apple Macintosh Computer The more affordable home computer with a
GUI.

1985 Microsoft Windows Microsoft begins the friendly war with Apple.

The Link between Computers and ICT

ICT is about the use of computers and their applications while computers are essential devices
necessary for the deployment of ICT.

Computers (hardware and software) enable users to access, store, transmit, and manipulate
information in the field of ICT. Almost everything we do in this age involves information and
communication technologies (ICTs).
For example, making phone calls, booking tickets online, watching premiership league, emailing
friends, paying by credit card or withdrawing money from ATM and using household appliances.

At the heart of ICT are computers including, microprocessors in mobile phones, personal
computers, large internet servers, and mainframes.

Knowledge of ICT simply teaches one how to use the computer system and installed applications
to perform tasks.

Knowledge of computing teaches one how to design computers, architecture, and how computers
work.