Media Technology and Society A History From the Printing Press to the Superhighway

How are media born? How do they change? And how do they change us?

"Media Technology and Society" offers a comprehensive account of the history of communications technologies, from the printing press to the internet. Brian Winston argues that the development of new media, 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. Winston's fascinating account examines the role played by individuals such as Alexander Graham Bell, Gugliemo Marconi, John Logie Baird, Boris Rozing and Charles Babbage, and challenges the popular myth of the present-day "information revolution."

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.

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