website/@UMNEvolutionInternet folder/early boom of the internet
This journey is powerful because it is how humans got from flipping a post to represent secret codes that only a few know to a vast interconnected web of computers that allows anyone to create and access it regardless of who they are. The big ideas for me was not the science and technical details of the technology but what it was used for and how it was accessible to others.
Claude Chappe Signalling Device: It starts by going over how two brothers wanted to communicate from a distance and devised a way to use titling arms as representations of other things to convey messages over distances.
Accessibility with the telegraph: The next step of the journey goes on to explain how this was very complicated and that it wasn't very user-friendly, that we needed a way to simplify it, so a larger group of the population can communicate with each other.
Morse Code: This is where Morse comes in, he devised a way to translate the English alphabet into jolts of electricity to be sent over a copper wire. It is a lot easier to learn 26 codes then the hundreds from the previous model. This is also very important because it is essentially just binary, a quick jolt represents one thing while a long jolt represents another, which can be compared to 1 and 0 of binary. This is significant as it is simplifying how we can send data more efficiently and being conscious of more than just the big inventions like the telegraph.
Linguistics and meaning: The next step would be thinking about other languages, such as Chinese, which cannot easily be translated to the telegraph. first computer protocol: This changes the way we view how we develop new technologies. Instead of everything being done in an expensive lab funded by big corporations or governments, anyone can now contribute to the internet. This took control out of people who wanted money that would inhibit people from researching tech. This connects the idea of British control and how technology at this time only thought about a select group of people instead of the world.
British Telegraph Monopoly: This helps illustrate the differences on why we advance our technologies, not to make money or political reasons but because we are generally interested in the field.
Britians Motivation for Telegraphy: The motivation of power and money was at it's strongest when the British Empire was developing the telegraph, it wanted to do whatever it took to be better than other countries. This note connects well because it talks about the reasons why the telegraph became what it is and connects to the shift of motivation for innovation.
Accelerating forces other than military: We have come to a point where we can shift from a view of power to one of bettering humanity. This leads us from the tradition of only a few selected people being able to use and research technology like English with Morse code to a world where anyone can access and create anything using the internet.
early boom of the internet: This is the end of the journey because it marks where humanity was at a peak of diversity on the internet. It was a time when absolutely anyone could create a website for any reason, and it would be popular, a place where everyone can find someone to connect with.
first computer protocol: This changes the way we view how we develop new technologies. Instead of everything being done in an expensive lab funded by big corporations or governments, anyone can now contribute to the internet. This took control out of people who wanted money that would inhibit people from researching tech. This connects the idea of British control and how technology at this time only thought about a select group of people instead of the world. British Telegraph Monopoly:
This helps illustrate the differences on why we advance our technologies, not to make money or political reasons but because we are generally interested in the field. Britians Motivation for Telegraphy: The motivation of power and money was at it's strongest when the British Empire was developing the telegraph, it wanted to do whatever it took to be better than other countries. This note connects well because it talks about the reasons why the telegraph became what it is and connects to the shift of motivation for innovation. Accelerating forces other than military: We have come to a point where we can shift from a view of power to one of bettering humanity. This leads us from the tradition of only a few selected people being able to use and research technology like English with Morse code to a world where anyone can access and create anything using the internet. early boom of the internet: This is the end of the journey because it marks where humanity was at a peak of diversity on the internet. It was a time when absolutely anyone could create a website for any reason, and it would be popular, a place where everyone can find someone to connect with.