Introduction
Technology has changed the whole world look like a village. This essay will give an overview of four technological developments from prehistoric times through the 1939 to before the beginning of WWII. These four technological developments include telephone for the purpose of communication, television for the purpose of broadcasting information, automobile for transportation purpose, and computer for computing information. These technologies have gained popularity since 19th century to date and are being improved.
Telephone for communication service
Before invention of telephone, people had to travel for long distances to communicate to one another and messages could reach the receiver when it is too late to have an effect. The first telephone that created a voice was in 1875. It was developed by a professor Alexander Graham Bell who was busy in a noisy machine-shop where he heard a voice in one machine as he was on another. It was the first time in history of the world that a complete sound had been carried along a wire. Telephone was later invented as a message-carrier where during this period, the only telephone line in the world was between Williams' workshop in Boston and home of Mr. Williams in Somerville but in 1877, E. T. Holmes, who was undertaking business concerning burglar alarms located in Boston. Later, the telephone was adapted and used in businesses such as banks, and several telephone boxes were set up for use. Telephone business has grown bigger in the whole world, and it is used in homes, businesses as a quickest mode of communication.
Television for broadcasting service
Television has changed people’s social behaviour. According to for ages a man dreamt about ability to transfer pictures over long distances. He could not achieve this goal before he could master the electric. In the year 1873 Joseph May from Ireland, discovered the photoelectric effect that variations of selenium bars that are exposed to sunlight can be transformed into electrical signals that is; they can be transmitted while in 1875 George Carey proposed a system that based on the exploration of every point in an image simultaneously where, a large number of photoelectric cells were arranged on a panel, facing the image, and wired to a panel carrying the same number of bulbs. Later, the cathode ray tube with a fluorescent scene was invented in 1897. The aim was to have pictures scanned and seen through the system when moving. In 1935, the television service started, pictures were being produced on film and then scanned using a rotating disk. Later colour televisions were developed and today, television is the most broadcasting device that few homes lack.
Automobile for human transportation
People could travel very far for several days where they could carry their food and other needs which were tedious for them. In 1769, there was creation of steam engine automobiles, in 1806 first cars were powered by an internal combustion engine running on fuel gas, and there appeared petrol-fuelled internal combustion engine. Then, cars powered by electric power appeared by 20th and they were more popular than the ordinary cars. During this time, there was no battery that would enable cars to move at high speeds or be able to move at long distances . Popularity of the automobile has consistently moved with the state of the economy, growing during the boom period after World War I . Automobile is used for transportation of goods and for travelling by people in every part of the world. People can now walk for several miles in few hours unlike before. Vehicles have been improved with safety facilities for people to like them reducing negative impacts such as deaths.
Computer for computing
Technology of computer began in 19th century, where computers are categorized in generations. The first generation was development of electronic digital computer, which was developed and designed by Dr. John V. Atanasoff and Clifford Berry in 1937 which was called the Atanasoff-Berry Computer . There after the creation of computers to be used in the military, others were developed for general purposes, specific purposes and they became more powerful than before. The speed of computer doubled every eighteen months and thus gained popularity. Today, have found their use and utilisation in many different purposes in life for different purposes such as communication, information sharing, and entertainment, among others. Computers are making people’s work easier where they compute information and produce output in seconds, the work that could take a person several days to produce an output. Companies are using computers to store huge data for their customers and employees.
Conclusion
The four technological developments which were discussed are in communication, broadcasting, transportation, and computing services. Devices that were developed to perform these services are telephone, television, automobile, and computer. Since ancient times, technology has changed people’s lives in the best way. The invented technologies are improving daily and people tend to like these improvements.
References
Brancheau, J. W. (n.d.). History of the Automobile and Impact on Society. Retrieved from http://l3d.cs.colorado.edu/systems/agentsheets/New-Vista/automobile/
Casson, H. N. (2008). The History of the Telephone. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/819/819-h/819-h.htm
Peters, J.-J. (2000, June 2). A History of Television. Retrieved from DVB - The History of Television: http://arantxa.ii.uam.es/~jms/tvd/tv_history.pdf
Steitz, B. (2006). A brief Computer History. Retrieved from http://people.bu.edu/baws/brief%20computer%20history.html
