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Tiffany James Professor McConnell Introduction to Mass Communication 28 November 2010 Technology in the Media When you here the phrase mass communication what do you think of? Do you think of people reporting the news on television? Or do you think of people reporting the news on the radio? When I first heard the phrase mass communication, I had no clue what it was. I thought it was the news just like most people do but I was wrong. Mass communication is the process of sending messages through technology to large faraway audiences. You are receiving mass communication through the television and radio, but it is more than just the news it is anything a larger audience has access to including books, newspapers and the internet. But mass communication would not exist without mass media which is the communication through technology to larger audiences. There are many different types of mass media like: audio and reproduction, broadcasting, film, digital, print, and video games. Audio and reproduction pertains to various music and sound media including records, tapes, cassettes, cartridges, and CDs (Francis Lloyd Sauza). Broadcasting includes radio, television and cable as modes of spreading out information to the mainstream (Francis Lloyd Sauza). Film is the cinema and DVDs which depicts, presents and demonstrates stories or tales of human emotions, lifestyle and exploits (Francis Lloyd Sauza). Then digital media is the internet, cell phones, and the satellite. The internet is one of the most powerful mass media. Print media encompasses books, pamphlets, newspapers, and magazines. And video games are the favorite pastime of people nowadays, young and old alike (Francis

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Lloyd Sauza). Because of all of these things media is now global and accessible to those who can afford it. With new media came new technology because the companies needed to keep up with consumer demand. One of the media used is audio and as it has evolved as years have gone by so has its technology. It started with Thomas Edisons tinfoil wrapped around a spinning cylinder in 1877. Then in 1888 Edison introduced an electric motor-driven phonograph. In 1898 Valdemar Poulsen his Telegraphone and in 1906 Lee DeForest invented the triode vacuum tube, the first electronic signal amplifier (An Audio Timeline). The Scully disk recording lathe was introduced in 1917 and then the Blattnerphone a magnetic recorder was developed in 1929. Then the 1940s the tape deck made its dbut only later to be over shadowed by the vinyl record in 1948. In 1958 the stereo disk was made public, but five years later in 1963 Phillips came out with the cassette tape (An Audio Timeline). Then CDs were invented and now there are iPods, and mp3 players and new and better ones are being created every year. And now there are even iPhones and other phones that can play music. These new electronic products came in to being because of everyday peoples thirst for new products. I think audio/ music is doing well, but it will eventually have to go completely digital because the older generation that buys the hard copies will die out. Then there is broadcasting media which has created a ton of new technology. However it started with Guglielmo Marconi in 1895 and broadcasting stations took off in 1920. Later on in Germany Rigger developed a circuit for controlling the output of an alternator by monitoring the frequency of the output (Henry B. O. Davis 76). Then Bell Telephone scientist developed a double button microphone. Then RCA created the UV200 detector tube and around the same time Atwater Kent began the manufacture of radio components and amplifiers (Henry B. O.

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Davis 77). Then David Sarnoffs idea for a music box resurfaced. Later projectors were created along with radios, and televisions. Today information can also be broadcasted on computers and cell phones. And as technology has progressed new and better products have been developed. Some of the newest products are iPads, televisions where someone can watch TV and be on the internet at the same time. There is a new product out called the View Sonic G Tablet. It is a touch screen computer with the ability to be used as a camera and other wonderful features. Companies are coming out with products like these that have more and more entertaining features to keep consumers interest. Because when your product becomes out dated people forget them about and move on to the newest thing. I believe that the broadcasting industry will continue to expand as technology evolves. The film industry had gotten its start a little bit before the broadcasting industry. The Frenchman Louis Lumiere is credited with being the father of the motion picture camera. However Lumiere was not the first, Thomas Alva Edison and his company created the bulky Kinetoscope, which enabled one person at a time to view moving pictures while Lumiere brothers came out with the Cinematographe which was portable and easy to carry. Later on, Edison came out with the improved Vitascope projector that became the first commercially successful projector in the U. S (The History of Motion Picture). From that came silent pictures. Soon after sound motion picture came out and stole the show. Edwart Craft was the first to create such a thing and he called it the Vitaphone. Then black and white film was traded out for the color film created by Canadians Wilson Markle and Brian Hunt in 1983 (The History of Motion Picture). As the years passed more efficient technology was created. Today some movies are stilled made using film. However, there are now digital cameras, cameras that do not need film, that are available to the masses which makes it easy for anyone to become a movie producer.

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And now movies can be watched just about anywhere from your television at home to your cell phone on the go. At the moment the film industry is doing ok, but their amount of viewers has decreased since it first started. They will probably have to revamp how they are distributing them. Most likely they will end up starting websites and sending movies straight to the internet and charging people to watch them. Then there is the oldest form of media, print media. It started around 59 B. C. with Julius Caesars newspaper the Roman Acta Diurna (Newspapers: A Brief History). Then in 8th century China the first hand-written newssheets appeared in Beijing. Later the printing press was invented by Johann Gutenberg in 1447 and rushed in the modern era of print media (Newspapers: A Brief History). In the latter half of the 17th century print media was transformed after the invention of the telegraph. Then with the penny papers in 1833 news became affordable to everyone and the industry started to boom. While the newspaper is an important part of print media it is not the only aspect. There are also books and magazines. Books started around the 7th century as religious manuscripts that were handmade that only church officials could read. Then around the 13th century books became public and people were taught to read them. In the 15th century books like the bible were printed with the use of the printing press. When magazines were first created in the 1700s they looked like books. Magazines began as a tool for educated men to get their points a view across. Then it later moved on to look like a newspaper and in the 1920s it ushered in the use of machines to make it. Today newspapers have moved to a digital form by moving to the internet to keep up with consumer demand and to keep in the black. Some newspapers have even decided to offer services to the ipad to attract customers. Books have gone digital and it started with Sonys ereader in 2007. Then Barns and Noble came out with the Nook and Amazon came out with the Kindle. Then Google started a book program to convert all books

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to digital form. Print will survive for a few more decades, but will most likely be over taken by its digital counterpart and eventually disappear. All media will eventually go digital and the old technology will become extinct. But that will not happen as long as the older generations still buy the old versions of media. And the new generation find a love for vintage items. Today media is constantly changing; people are constantly looking for the next big thing. And I believe that all the different types of media will have to continue to evolve to keep up with the demand. There are a lot of new types of technology being invented and this will continue until people become tired of buying the newest thing.

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Works Cited Lloyd Sauza, Francis. Types of Mass Media. Ezine Articles. Ezine Articles, 2010. Web. 28 November 2010. An Audio Timeline. Audio Engineering Society. Audio Engineering Society, 17 October 1999. Web. 1 December 2010. B. O. Davis, Henry. The Third Decade . Electrical and Electronic Technologies: A Chronology of Events and Inventors From 1900 to 1940. Library of Congress, 1983. 72- 122. Google Books. Web. 2 November 2010. Bellis, Mary. The History of Motion Picture. About Inventors. Web. 2 November 2010. Newspapers: A Brief History. World Association of Newspapers. World Association of Newspapers, NA. Web. 3 November 2010.