Media Technology and Society: A History From the Printing Press to the Superhighway / Edition 1

by Brian Winston

Overview

Challenging the popular myth of a present-day 'information revolution', Media Technology and Society is essential reading for anyone interested in the social impact of technological change. Winston argues that the development of new media forms, from the telegraph and the telephone to computers, satellite and virtual reality, is the product of a constant play-off between social necessity and suppression: the unwritten law by which new technologies are introduced into society only insofar as their disruptive potential is limited.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415142304
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/16/1998
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	392
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Brian Winston

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Storm from Paradise: Technological Innovation, Diffusion and Suppression: Part One: Propogating Sound at Considerable Distance 1. The Telegraph: The First Electrical Medium 2. Before the Speaking Telephone 3. The Capture of Sound Part Two: The Vital Spark & Fugitive Pictures 4. Wireless and Radio 5. Mechanically Scanned Television 6. Electronically Scanned Television 7. Television Spin-Offs and Redundancies Part Three: Device for Casting Up Sums Very Pretty 8. Mechanising Calculation 9. The First Computers 10. Suppressing the Mainframes 11. The Integrated Circuit 12. The Coming of the Microcomputer Part Four: The Intricate Web of Trails 13. The Beginnings of Networks 14. Networks & Recording Technologies 15. Communications Satellites 16. The Satellite Era 17. Cable Television 18. The Internet Conclusion: The Pile of Debris From the Boulevard des Capucins to the Leningradsky Prospect

Editorial Reviews

'[Winston's] breadth of experience is evident in this thorough and lucid history The scope of the material and the detail presented in 300 information-rich pages plus some 250 references is impressive Winston not only picks out the key 'facts' about a period or a technology, but what is more difficult, manages to tell the truth about what was going on at the time' - John Ashford, Journal of Documentation, Volume 55

'Anyone seriously interested in the field is likely to find much of interest, and to retain the history as a reference for use when presented with dubious 'facts' by enthusiasts of the new technologies This is recommended reading.' - John Ashford, Journal of Documentation, Volume 55

From the Publisher

Offers a comprehensive account of the history of communications technologies, from the point of view that the development of new media is the product of a constant play-off between social necessity and suppression. Challenges the concept of a revolution on communications technology by highlighting the long histories of developments such as the fax (introduced in 1847) and the idea of television (patented in 1884). Examines why some prototypes are abandoned and why many inventions are created simultaneously by independent inventors, and shows how new industries develop around inventions. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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