Others EOTO Tech Post#7

    Learning about the other technologies from the other students opened my eyes to how many of these communication technologies started, along with their effects on the world when they became popular and mainstream. Some of which I never really knew the extent of their effects, starting with the television.

    The first television started out as a series of pictures that were all captured just frames after the other, and when spun around with light pointed at them, it made it seem as though it was happening in real time or as a video. What came as a surprise to me was the structure of the TV itself, and the evolution of it throughout the years. I have never been much of a TV person, not even as a child, but the spread of this device allowed for more than just information world wide. Advertisements and entertainment ended up being some of the largest uses for TV. It also has its benefits along with its downsides, where it can be used to spread information, watch your favorite team score a touchdown or home run or have a romantic movie night with you spouse. However, I have also seen it as a replacement for parents to interact with their children, and sometimes just let them sit inside all day without talking to other kids their age, and now they don't know how to interact with other children at the age of 10-12.

    There are some good shows that help teach lessons and help with creativity, sure. You have shows like The Wiggles, and Elmo to help kids learn the alphabet and other lessons, like not hitting people, but after this, the rest of life's lessons are learned in person and with others. 

    On a similar topic would be Facebook. Made by Mark Zuckerberg in 2003 and originally called "TheFacebook," took the world by storm in just 7 years. After adding a marketplace and chat feature, Facebook soon not only became a place where you can post photos of yourself with family and friends, but also a way to communicate across the globe, both socially and for business, and even became the most downloaded application for roughly 10 years and the first application to have over 1 billion downloads. Despite Facebook taking the world by storm and having more active users than any other social media platform at the time, they opted to buy one of their competitors, Instagram, in 2012, further extending their reach across the age ranges, as Facebook became for older folk and Instagram was the new big deal for the younger generation.

    These two forms of communication, while having their cons, allowed for so much more than we though possible for a long time and expanded communication as we know it, and changed the world with its introduction. Social media like Facebook and Instagram allowed for a more intimate connection with family and friends by sharing videos and pictures of their experiences with one another from opposite sides of the world, letting you feel like you were right there with them. The television allowed for a whole new form of entertainment and being a billion dollar industry.