How we Got to Now Flashcards
Base of communication
human senses/perception
Human senses limitation
Only input
Most basic way to create signal
Self contained gestures
Self contained gesture limitation
Right now; only meaning from person; not long distance
Pointing advantages
Being able to communicate beyond the self
Pointing disadvantages
Can’t communicate beyond the present
Signs advantage
Let us talk about things not at the present
Signs limitations
real-time
Semiotics
Signs
Speech advantages
Easier to move mouth than body; can communicate far away
Speech disadvantage
Permanence
Cave painting/petroglyphs innovation
permanence
Cave painting/petroglyph limitations
Clarity issues; can only represent visible/nonabstract
Petroglyphs
Carving into rock surface
Pictogram
Represents a concept
Ideogram
Represents an idea
Pictogram innovation
Standardize visual language; show sequence
Ideogram innovation
Can be abstract
Pictogram/Ideogram limitation
Clarity issues
Logographic writing innovation
Grammar; standardization of terms
Logographic writing limitation
difficult to keep adding pictures
Alphabetic writing innovation
Infinitely reconfigurable
Early telecommunication
Smoke signals, drums, horns
First working telegraph
Francis Ronalds 1816; static electricity
Early telecommunication limitations
Infrastructure necessary; limited to line-of-sight; weather issues
Courier/mail innovation
Can communicate over distance
Courier/mail limitation
lost/interception/trust/don’t know where to send
First form of mass communication
Early newspapers
Typewriter innovation
Made available to individuals
Telegraph innovation
Real-time transmission of information
Metcalfe’s Law
Value of network is how many use it (exponentially)
Two takeaways:
Ability to reproduce info indefinitely has come so close to zero; ability to store info is scale and speed beyond human capability
