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Patrice Flichy offers a profound analysis of the social shaping and impact of the major communication technologies of the last 200 years.
From the semaphore and telegraph to contemporary information technologies, Dynamics of Modern Communication focuses on the relationship between technological and social change. Particular emphasis is put on four processes: the birth of the modern state at the end of the eighteenth century; the development of stock markets; the transformation of private life in the modern nuclear family; and the individualism of the late twentieth century.
Exploring the interaction of technology and social context - for example, in the move from public methods of communication to more private and individualized forms - Flichy exposes the gap between the original conception of a technology and its end use after the interplay of political, economic and consumer forces.
List of contents
Introduction
PART ONE: FROM STATE-CONTROLLED COMMUNICATION TO MARKET-CONTROLLED COMMUNICATION (1790-1870)
Introduction
State-Controlled Communication
The Semaphore Telegraph
Networks and Electricity
Market-Controlled Communication
The Electric Telegraph
PART TWO: FAMILY COMMUNICATION (1870-1930)
Introduction
Collection and Souvenir
Photography and the Gramophone
From Trading in Goods to Trading in Souls
The Telephone
The Wireless Age
Radio Broadcasting
PART THREE: GLOBAL COMMUNICATION (1930-1990)
Introduction
Telephone Engineers¿ Technical Options
The Triumph of Electronics
Television and Computers
Private Communication
Final Reflections
About the author
Patrice Flichy is head of the communications research group at the French Centre National d′Études des Télécommunications
Summary
A social history of communication technology from 1790 to 1995 and a critical analysis of the social shaping and impact of the communication technologies. The text explores the interaction of technology and social context processes such as the move from public to private forms of communication.
