The Evolution of Media

• In the study of media, it is important to look back at how media

evolved through the times. This will provide media users better
understanding on the milestones set in the history of media.
Prehistoric Age
• NBC news reported the discovery of a 40,000-year – old cave painting in Sulawei, Indonesia. Several other
discoveries of cave art around the world have proven that even at a time when no known civilization existed,
the media have been part of man’s life. The innate need for people to communicate is said to be the reason
for their existence. Despite their lack of speech during those days, cavemen found a means to convey their
thoughts. Although different from our methods, they have the same reasons we do for using the media
• After the Stone Age, ancient civilizations began to emerge along with a certain form of speech. The
development of language made record keeping among civilizations possible. This is where the ancient forms
of writing came into the picture. The earliest of which is the hieroglyphic script of the ancient Egyptian
civilization developed around 32,000 BCE(Scoville, 2015). The Sumerians developed another notable ancient
form of writing around 5,000 BCE called the cuneiform (Mark, 2011).
• These earliest scripts were initially inscribed on wet clay with a reed implement. Eventually, with the
invention of paper, writing has become a lot easier. Many believe that the Egyptians developed the earliest
paper through an abundant reed found along the Nile River. History, however, credits the Han dynasty for the
invention of paper (Violatti, 2013).
• The creation of paper allowed ancient scribes to preserve history through manuscripts. These manuscripts
are referred to as the earliest form of the print media.
Industrial Age
• The industrial age brought improvements in mass media. In the book
Industrialization in the Modern World, Hinshaw and Stearns cited the
changes in mass media in the industrial age. In print, faster, steam-
driven presses and methods of translating photographs to the printing
press. The year 1850s paved the way for cheaper manufacturing of
paper. In 1890s automatic composing machines allowed semiskilled
typesetting from keyboards to replace highly skilled manual setting.
Advances in photography allowed illustration.
Electronic Age
• The electronic age of media began with the invention of the telegraph
during the mid-1840s. According to Howe, it was a part of a widespread
revolution in communications along with the mass production of
newspapers, magazines, and books. Simply put, the height of the
industrial age of media, paved the way to the dawn of a new era.
• Bill Kovarik said that the invention of the telegraph led to telephones,
radios, and televisions. It revolutionized communication and the media
from the physical-print- to transmitted signals over distance. Through
this, the barriers of space were broken allowing a quicker and easier
communication during the electronic age.
Information Age
• Today’s media has come a long from way cave paintings. While the traces of the industrial and electronic age still
remain in modern media, the Internet is the prevailing platform of media in the information age.
• The internet is a development instead of an invention. What people know today as the World Wide Web began as a
more secure alternative means of communication during the cold war, called the ARPAnet, Janet Abbate defines the
ARPAnet as a single network connecting a few dozen sites. By using pocket switching or the process of breaking
down information and sending it through different routes, the United States communication system can survive a
Soviet Attack (Abbate, 2000).
• Its use, however, did not end the war. The ARPAnet continued to be used as an effective means of communication.
Since it is a single network, access was very limited. As more and more try to connect to ARPAnet, integration became
more difficult. An article published by the history channel credited Vinton Cerf in solving this problem through
Transmission Control Protocol or TCP. The TCP allowed all of the world’s mini-networks to communicate with one
another. Cerf made the evolution of ARPA net to a worldwide network possible.
• Sending files to one another was the main purpose of the worldwide network throughout the 1980s. A decade later,
Tim Berners- Lee led another Internet innovation. He developed the World Wide Web, where the internet itself
became a web of information. It is no longer limited to correspondence between two parties. It became a virtual
space where information can be stored and retrieved by anyone who has access to it. His development is the Internet
that we know today.