LESSON 3 - FROM WRITINGS ON THE WALL TO various parts of the world, both economically

SIGNALS TRAVELING IN THE AIRWAVES: and politically.

A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF COMMUNICATIONS  Communication theorist Denis McQuail cites
that the newspaper is a more significant
From Papyrus to Paper innovation than the book. It provided a new
 Around 100 AD, Christian invented the codex, a function for a distinct class that will give rise to
document which can be rightfully referred to as developments in the economic sphere,
the prototype of a book. specifically industrialization, and the rise of the
 By the 15th century, the technology was already nation-state. He also cites the following
paper. defining features of a newspaper: regular
 Also in the 15th century, Johann Gutenberg appearance, commercial circulation, serving
(1394–1460) invented the printing technology multiple purposes (information, education,
that would eventually be called the movable entertainment, advertising, diversion, and even
type machine. gossip), and its unrefutably public character.
 The Gutenberg printing process launched what  In the Philippines, the rise of the newspaper
could be considered the first medium truly came about in the first decades of the 19 th
designed for the masses. century. In December 1, 1846, La Esperanza,
 Gutenberg printing process was a revolutionary the first daily newspaper, was published in the
invention, particularly for Europeans, as the country.
printed materials that they saw and became  One of the most popular newspapers in history,
part of their lives radically altered the church,
the La Solidaridad (1889), was actively used to
science, arts, and politics, accelerating
developments that would see its pinnacle in campaign for reforms for the Philippines from
the Industrial Revolution of the 17th century. the Spanish rule. Additionally, in January 18,
 Meanwhile in the Philippines, the first book 1896, the Katipuneros published Ang Kalayaan
printed is believed to be Doctrina Cristiana a as the official revolutionary newspapers of the
treatise on the teachings of the Roman Catholic Kataastaasang Kagalang-galangang Katipunan
Church, written by Fray Juan Plasencia, an
ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK). Others are Diario
Augustinian priest.
de Manila and Boletin Oficial de Fiiipinas.
Nation-States and the Rise of Newspapers
From Static to Moving Images
 After the 17th century, the first newspaper was
Several inventions intersected and gave rise to film as a
reportedly produced in England (although it
mass medium:
was restricted because of the apprehension by
 George Eastman invented the film and built a
the ruling monarchs).
company that would be known as Kodak.
 By 1700, the idea of a free press, independent
 Thomas Edison and his assistant, William
from the control of the government, emerged
Dickson, turned the use of the photographic
as a strong rhetoric against authoritarian
film, (now in a strip) into a material that can be
states.
moved in front of a lens at a constant speed to
 Around this time, it is also important to note
result into several photographs, each one
the rise of an adversarial press, defined as a
different from the other one because of a slight
press that had the ability to conduct dialogue
change in the movement of the subject. When
and even argue with the government.
that strip was developed and viewed by the
 The first newspapers were patronized by
naked eye, it gave the illusion of a moving
merchants because, as perennial travelers, they
object.
were very interested on what was going on in
 Frenchmen Louis and Augusto Lumière further
developed the technology of film projectors.
  Edison would still improve the technology
developed by the Lumière brothers with large
screen projecting.
 By 1896, the Edison vitascope was on a public
debut in New York, where it showed a film
entitled Rough Sea at Dover by Robert Paul.
 By 1907, the word “television” was already
used in a magazine called the Scientific
American.
 By 1928, the first telecast of a television
program took place, transmitting from the
experimental studio of General Electric in New
York City.
 By 1930, the Radio Corporation of America
introduced electronic scanning, a much
improved technology from the mechanical
scanning introduced earlier.
 By 1939, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt
became the first president to appear on the
tube.
 In Europe, the Nazi authorities in Germany
operated the world’s first regular television
service, using it as a platform for propaganda.
 Commercial television came into being in the
United States only in 1946.
 In the Philippines, an American engineer, James
Lindenberg, began assembling transmitters in
Bolinao, Pangasinan in 1946. He was not fully
successful with his attempt to establish a
television station but soon he was able to team
up with Antonio Quirino, and together, they
would establish the Alto Broadcasting System
where he would serve as the general manager.
Their first official telecast was in October 23,
1953.
The Rise of New Media
 The invention of the transistor radio in 1948
signaled the development of semi-conductor
devices, considered the foundation of modern
electronics, as it led to the invention of
integrated circuits, a technology that will be
critical in the development of the computer.
 By 1953, IBM has already shipped its first
electronic computers called 701 in the industry.
It sold 19 machines to research laboratories,
aircraft companies, and the federal
government.
 By 1969, the ARPANET was created and
considered as the predecessor of the internet.
It was a large area-wide network created by the
US military, specifically the US Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) to
serve as a ground for networking technologies
that will link the military to various federal
agencies, even the universities.
 In 1971, the transition from ARPANET to
Internet commenced to serve more purposes
other than catering to the military. The first
innovation was the TCP/IP architecture as
proposed by Stanford University. It is
considered the standard protocol by which
networks communicate.
 By 1983, the Internet was universally adopted.
Commands for electronic mails were
standardized, thereby making it a lot easier for
the layman to navigate the increasingly
complex world of the Internet.
 The Internet enabled the development and the
unabated growth of the new media because it
democratized the platform for creating,
producing, and disseminating information.
Timeline of Internet in the Philippines
 In 1986, the first local Bulletin Board System
(BBS) was used in the Philippines. BBS is a
computer system running a software that
allows users to connect and exchange
messages and information using a terminal
program.
 By 1987, inter-BBS connectivity was enabled
through the Philippine FidoNet exchange. One
bulletin board system in Metro Manila was now
able to connect to other bulletin board systems
in the same area.
 By the early years of the 90s, email gateways
and services broadened, courtesy of some
multinational corporations operating in the
Philippines.
 By 1993, the government would figure as a
major player, mostly of the role discharged by
the Department of Science and Technology
(DOST). With the support from the Industrial
Research Foundation (IRF), the PhilNet project
was launched, consisting of representatives
from various universities such as the University
 of the Philippines–Diliman, University of the
Philippines–Los Baños, De La Salle University,
and Ateneo de Manila University. They would
team up with Dr. Rudy Villarica who would
represent the Industrial Research Foundation.
 By July 1993, with full funding from the DOST,
the PhilNet project scaled up. Students from
the participating universities were able to
connect to another gateway at the Victoria
University of Australia.
 By November 1993, an additional grant of
₱12.5M enabled the purchase of equipment
and lease of communication lines.
 By March 29, 1994, the Philippines was
formally connected to the Internet, using the
PLDT network center in Makati City.
 On the same day, the First International E-mail
Conference was being held at the University of
San Carlos in Cebu. Dr. John Brule, a professor
emeritus from Syracuse University, announced
“We’re in!” as the PhilNet connection
successful linked up with the global Internet.