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Media Technology and Society: A History: From the Telegraph to the Internet
Product Review In this widely researched history of communication and information technologies, from the printing press to the Internet, Brian Winston argues that the development of new media forms, from the telegraph and the telephone to computers, satellites, 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. Winston's monograph asks difficult questions: How are new media born? How do they change? Moreover, how do they change us? He concludes that the information Revolution is not revolutionary. Current technologies are merely elaborating a process of change begun much earlier, and historical study of these alterations offers many insights into the potential effects of today's latest developments. –American Association for History and Computing Prize for the Best Book of 1998 Winston's notes should not be missed; they contain historical nuggets and comment on the main text. A valuable history illuminated with a unique and insightful model applicable to other fields. Highly recommended as a replacement for the earlier volume. –Choice, 3/99 With an impressive breadth of scholarship, the author makes an effective casethis book should provide a healthy counterweight to the hyperbole that currently surrounds talk and writing about the 'Information Age'. –American Studies Choice - 3/99 "Winston's notes should not be missed; they contain historical nuggets and comment on the main text. A valuable history illuminated with a unique and insightful model applicable to other fields. Highly recommended as a replacement for the earlier volume." --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. Reader Reviews This book won the 1998 Best Book Award by the American Association for History and Computing. It not only provides a comprehensive account of the history of electronic communications from telegraphy to the Internet, but also offers a model with which to understand the processes of change in the technologies of communication. The purpose of book is not only to explicate a fuller account of what actually occurred in the telecommunications past but also to offer an interpretation, necessarily synthetic and revisionist, of those occurrences. The model offers an understanding of the history and the current position of communications in our culture. This understanding is not solely dependent on the performance of technology, but is also heavily dependent on an examination of the operation of the social necessities and constraints. Brian Winston's fascinating account challenges the popular myth of a present-day `information revolution' in communications technology by highlighting the long histories of such developments. The fax was introduced in 1884. Digitalization was demonstrated in 1938. Even the concept of the `web' dates back to 1945. In Part I, the author applies the model to the electrical systems of communication, the telegraph and the telephone. Then, in Part II, radio and television are dealt with. Part III is concerned with computing while Part IV looks at the whole development of electrical and electronic networks from the telegraph to the Internet. The conclusion suggestions, via a consideration of the current state of research into holography, that the model is still valid. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the social impact of technological change. Brian Winston is Head of the School of Communication, Design and Media at the University of Westminster, the world's leading school of media and communication studies. He was previously Dean of the College of Communications at the Pennsylvania State University, Chair of Cinema Studies at New York University and Founding Director of the Glasgow University Media Group. As a television professional in the UK, he has won an Emmy for documentary script-writing. Reviewed by Azlan Adnan. Formerly Business Development Manager with KPMG, Azlan is currently Managing Partner of Azlan & Koh Knowledge and Professional Management Group, an education and management consulting practice based in Kota Kinabalu. He holds a Master's degree in International Business and Management from the University of Westminster in London. Comment | | (Report this)
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