Media Technologies

Media technology is not a term that is explicitly defined or explanative of a singular entity.  Instead, it is a general term applied to a multitude of various technologies associated with media.  "Media" can be defined as: The means of communication, as radio and television, newspapers, and magazines, that reach or influence people widely (Media, 2014). Here we will discuss four different media technologies.

Newspapers                                                         

A newspaper is a publication that appears regularly and frequently, and carries news about a wide variety of current events. The term is more commonly used to refer to daily or weekly publications that bring news of general interest to large portions of the public in a specific geographic area (Stephens, n.d.).

Today's newspapers offer a variety of local, regional, and national news.  Certain publications like USA Today are distributed across the country.  Even some local newspapers, like the New Yorker, have a readership that lies outside the city's borders.  Even though newspapers have been decreasing over the last decade, they still have a very strong following.

Newspapers have a tough battle ahead of them in the years to come.  Smart phones and tablets are selling at record numbers and with them, online content is king.  A newspaper must be printed and distributed, this means that much of the news within is at least many hours old.  Online "papers" can post and update news stories in real time.  This is one of the biggest factors in the decline of the physical newspaper.

Still, many modern markets are not fully penetrated by the recent mobile technology boom.  Newspapers have many years to come up with viable game plans to stay afloat amidst all of the online content.  Most newspapers already have an online counterpart.  Having an online division and a print division might work now, but time shows that splitting efforts between two mediums is tenuous at best.  If newspapers wish to remain a physical, printed commodity then they will have to do something more than have a website.

Radio

            The period between the late 1920s and the early 1950s is considered the Golden Age of Radio, in which comedies, dramas, variety shows, game shows, and popular music shows drew millions of listeners across America. But in the 1950s, with the introduction of television, the Golden Age faded (PBS, 2009). Today, with its popularity waning, radio continues to evolve as it competes with other technologies to attract and hold an audience.

            Even with today's smörgåsbord of modern technological wonders like super fast PCs and smart phones, radio is still as viable as ever as a news and entertainment option.  The fact that radio programming comes free makes it so.  Advertising is what funds and drives radio; without it, radio would shrivel up and die.

            Radio stations usually stick to a certain type of broadcast content.  Music stations will play a particular genre, decade of music (or decades), or current hits.  Some stations stick to news and educational programming.  Each one is tailored to a specific audience.  This not only helps the station tailor its content to its audience, but also to give advertisers a more specific audience. 

            Some radio stations play syndicated talk show hosts - some are very popular like Howard Stern or Rush Limbaugh.  These hosts have amassed a large listenership and with it huge advertising fees.  Since these hosts are nationally syndicated, their audience is several orders of magnitude more than local or regional stations.  This means they can command very large salaries and in turn garner large profits for their stations.

Telephone

            The telephone was invented and patented in the 1870's by Alexander Graham Bell (Bells, 2013). It turned into the device that first connected the world.  Imagine a world without the telephone.  Messages would take weeks, sometimes months to travel what we consider today to be short distances.  Instead, we take for granted this ostensibly simple invention when we should actually revel in its usefulness.

            Even though the concept of the telephone - two parties in a single conversation - might seem antiquated, it is still one of the most useful tools we have around today.  Even the devices we carry around all day everyday have a telephone function built in.  We rely on this wonderful piece of equipment to speak to our distant loved ones, conduct business, or simply get a quick message to someone. The telephone will be difficult, though not impossible, to replace.  The advent of the internet has only made the concept of the telephone more useful.  It is all about simple communication.

            The advancement in telephone availability has seen marked increase over the last several decades.  Just over a decade ago, it would cost "long-distance" charges for someone to call another person out of state.  Now, phone companies have made their plans "nation-wide."  It is safe to assume that the next decade will only see more advancements in telephone availability.  Almost everyone in America relies on the telephone in some way or another.  It is an integral part of daily life in the modern, connected world.

The Internet

            We as modern-day Americans are heavily invested in the internet.  This synopsis was written on a computer connected to the internet, with sources from the internet, and intended for distribution on - you guessed it - the internet.  The last couple of decades have seen a veritable nuclear explosion in internet's availability, popularity, and speed. 

            In the late 1960's, scientists and military experts were especially concerned about what might happen in the event of a Soviet attack on the nation’s telephone system.  The result of this Cold War fear was the ARPANET (History.com Staff, 2010).  This was a computer network intended to connect our nation's leaders in the event of a communications catastrophe.  What grew out of this project is one of the greatest and mind-bogglingly huge technological advancements in human history.

            Fast-forward to just two decades ago, dial-up internet gave us the ability to connect to the "World Wide Web."  Blazing fast speeds of 56KBps ensured that we would have to go get a cup of coffee to load our favorite website.  Surely media powerhouses like television and movie studios and news outlets never thought the internet could possibly encroach on their territory.

            Now, internet speeds are an ever-rising fact of life.  Every form of media is in some way available on the internet.  Movies are streaming and so is radio and television.  Newspapers are shuttering their doors and moving online.  Mobile devices have enabled us to be tethered to the internet all day, every day.  There is no doubt about it, the internet is no trend.  It is the ever expanding, premier media juggernaut. 

           

           

References

Media. (2014). In Dictionary.com. Retrieved Apr 27, 2014, from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/media

Stephens, M. (n.d.) History of newspapers. Collier’s Encyclopedia.  Retrieved from https://www.nyu.edu/classes/stephens/Collier's%20page.htm

PBS. (2009). The development of radio. WGBH Educational Foundation.  Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rescue/sfeature/radio.html.

Bells, M. (2013). The history of the telephone - Alexander Graham Bell. Retrieved from http://inventors.about.com/od/bstartinventors/a/telephone.htm.

History.com Staff. (2010). The invention of the internet. A+E Networks.  Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/inventions/invention-of-the-internet