Today, Telecommunications Technology Affects Lives To A Greater Degree

Today, telecommunications technology affects lives to a greater degree than ever before. Communication has evolved over many years from the earliest attempts at verbal communication to the use of sophisticated technology to enhance the ability to communicate effectively with others. Every time a telephone call is made, a television is watched, or a personal computer is used, benefits of telecommunication technologies are being received. The concept of telecommunications may be defined as the transmission of information from one location to another by electronic means. Telecommunications is using electronic systems to communicate. Life is changing constantly and has been changing faster since the rapid advancements in telecommunication. Because of continuing attempts to find better and more efficient ways to communicate, the process of communication has steadily improved. Many of these improvements were made without the use of electronic technology. Human beings' earliest attempts at communication were through nonverbal means such as facial expressions and gesturing. The use of these nonverbal signs, prehistoric people were able to communicate emotions such as fear, anger, and happiness. More specific motions, such as pointing, allowed them to convey more information. Verbal communication probably started with a series of disorganized but meaningful sounds (grunts and snarls). These sounds slowly developed into a system of organized, spoken language that truly allowed humans to share information (Croal 59). Writing, which is the use of symbols to represent language, began with early cave drawings, progressed to picture writings such as hieroglyphics, and finally evolved into the handwritten language we use today (Croal 61). As civilization developed, people found it necessary to communicate their ideas to one another over greater distances. The earliest method of transporting information was to carry it from place to place; but as the development of commerce made speed an essential part, greater effort was expended to increase the rate at which ideas were transmitted (Croal62). The search for rapid transport of information led to the formation of the pony express in 1860 (Cozic 77). Although the pony express required several weeks to carry mail from the East Coast to the West Coast, it was a vast improvement over the earlier methods. The pony express was not the only time humans teamed up with animals to attempt to improve communications. Dogs and pigeons were used to carry messages, especially during wartime . Most, if not all, of the early forms of communication had two significant problems. Both the speed at which information could be effectively communicated and the distance over which information could be sent were severely limited. With the advancements in forms of electronic communication, these problems were solved. It was even before the pony express that a true technological breakthrough was made. In 1844, the first electronic transmission occurred when Samuel Morse developed a system of dots and dashes to symbolize letters of the alphabet. A transmission device called the telegraph was used to send the coded signals over wires. The telegraph was to become the primary method of reliable and rapid communication during the American Civil War. It took quite a few years to link the major cities of America by telegraph wires, but by 1861 the pony express was replaced . Telegraphic communication became a major part of America's business and military history. One of the early telegraph companies, Western Union, became the dominant carrier. Today, Western Union, through the use of modern technology, transmits information twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Actual voice communication over distance finally became possible in 1876 when Alexander Graham Bell held the first telephone conversation with his assistant, Thomas Watson . This alternative to written communication rapidly helped the telephone become the world's most important communication tool. By 1866 the first successful attempt to link Europe and America by undersea cable had been accomplished. This cable was capable of carrying telegraph data only . The telephone today remains a vital tool, and like the telegraph, the telephone is constantly being improved by m odern technology. By 1900, the goal of communication technologists was to find a method of transmitting messages over long distances without the need for wires. That dream became reality in 1901 when Gugliellmo Marconi and two assistants stood on a hill in Newfoundland and listened carefully to their receiver.