Blog Post 6: Reflection from Presentation

 

Last Friday, my class presented a series of forms of communication that have evolved over the years. Things such as the pen, camera, social media platforms, and many others. These presentations showed me that people will always find methods to communicate with each other, and I got to look more into that through what my classmates presented.

The first presentation I want to mention was the one on petroglyphs. People who lived around 500 years ago carved messages into stone, and we can still read them to this day. Someone made those carvings without knowing a stranger would study them centuries later, and it makes you wonder why they made the them in the first place.

A few of the presentations decided to focus on showing me how each new tool solved one problem, but also created another. The one about the carrier pigeon explained that pigeons were the best form of long-distance communication for thousands of years. With their main use being in the military when phones were down. The problem with carrier pigeons was that they could only carry small notes, bad weather could stop them, and people could intercept the messages. The postal service fixed some of these issues. Benjamin Franklin became the first postmaster, and the Penny Black, the world's first adhesive stamp, made mail cheaper and more accessible. Businesses, governments, and societies were able to become connected. One presenter also raised a downside: whoever controls the mail can control which agendas are delivered to the public, such as making it harder for mail about Planned Parenthood to arrive in certain zip codes.

Another presentation that brought to light the thin line between open communication and controlled communication was the Facebook presentation. This platform launched on February 4, 2004, beginning only for Harvard students, and in 2006 opened to anyone over 13 with an email address. Its purpose was to make human connection easier, including finding someone you had lost contact with. But Facebook was also one the first platforms to be caught listening to its users and using their information without consent.

Other presentations aimed to cover specific companies or inventions that changed daily life. Netflix, founded by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph, started the death of cable and Redbox and popularized binge watching. YouTube erased a content-creation barrier, so now everyone can make media. The pencil began in ancient Rome, and French inventor Nicolas-Jacques Conté's breakthrough was grinding graphite, mixing it with clay, firing it in a kiln, and encasing it in cedar.

In the last presentation I want to mention, the on Wi-Fi, had a fun fact that I enjoyed learning: it doesn't stand for anything, and the Wi-Fi Alliance formed in 1999. The tools we rely on most are often the ones we think about least.

After hearing all of these, my main takeaway is that communication technology is never just technical. It shapes who gets heard, who gets left out, what message gets told, and who holds the power.