A Brief History of Communication

A brief history of Communication
• Can you imagine life without your blackberry, facebook, mixit or

twitter???
• Did you ever wonder how communication began or how it

originated?
• Communication has changed dramatically over the past decade.

This is due to the rapid development of new technologies. The art
of communication science has evolved with time and has
undergone various stages to get where it is today.
Stages in the history of human
communication
• Communication as we know it today evolved over a period of time
and went through various stages. In early civilisations there was a
need to communicate and instruments such as a ram’s horn,
drumbeats and smoke signals were used and during the Middle
Ages, homing pigeons were used to transmit messages. In modern
times communication is often available by means of pressing a
button ( phoning someone, sending a message via your cellular
phone, typing a letter on computer or switching on the television)
Age of Speech and Language
• The development of communication did not replace anything preceding it. Gestures, the
development of language and the need for interaction with others merely contributed towards
modern-day methods of expression.
• It is not very clear how language originated. Some believe words imitated sounds that
accompanied gesture; others believe words came from expression of emotion (crying or laughing)
while another school of thought believes that language resulted because of group activities (like
working together).
• There are more or less 3,000 languages spoken worldwide today. In South Africa we have eleven
official languages and each of these languages has been influenced by other existing languages.
Many language characteristics in your mother tongue have been taken over from older
languages.
Age of Writing
• In prehistoric times drawings and pictures of animals and people
in cave paintings and cuneiform were used to communicate.
• For generations cave paintings provided people with a way of

recording customs and traditions
• Wedge shaped strokes on clay tables ( known as cuneiform-
pictographic writing in which symbols represented objects)
represented ideas. Sounds were later added to identify pictures
and in about 3500 BCE ( Before the common era), the Sumerians
used words that sounded similar to create meaning ( for example
“bee” and “leaf” created “belief”). A complete cuneiform system
had more than 600 signs and a cuneiform script discovered in
1929 contained an alphabet of consonants.
Age of Print
• In medieval Europe the preservation of learning was one of the major
responsibilities of the monks. One way this task was done, was by
meticulously copying entire texts onto papyrus (paper had not been
invented yet). Crafts men and manuscript copyists also participated in
this activity to ensure that books were made available and that
information was communicated to people.
• In the West, however, at around 1438, the German printer Johan Guttenburg
invented a mould for casting individual letters in metal and published the
first book in the 1450’s. The Gutenberg Bible (1455) was the first work in
Europe to be printed with movable type ( about 200 copies were printed).
• News-sheets an early form of the newspaper were later developed, which
flourished and circulated rapidly.
• Society was easily influenced with the spread of books and information as
they could share their knowledge. More people began to read and write.
• However the release of the newspaper became the first true mass
communication medium.
Age of Electronic Mass Media
• In modern times personal computers have become known as
Multimedia PC’s because various forms of media, such as
cameras, telephones, videos, compact disks and images can be
integrated to enhance the accessibility and distribution of
information.
• Mass media is the term used to denote radio, newspapers,
television and the Internet- media that can be used to reach the
masses.
 Radio - Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian that was familiar with the work of Samuel
Morse, invented the first “wireless telegraph” and patented it in England in 1896.
On 12 December 1901 he transmitted his first transatlantic message between
Newfoundland in America and Poldu in England. Today Marconi is credited as the
father of Radio. The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) was
established on 1 August 1936.
 Film - Two Frenchmen, Niepce and Daguerre invented film during the 19th
century. By the early 20th century the movie camera and projector were
available and motion pictures became an important source of entertainment. By
1905 cinemas were built in Europe and United States. In South Africa film can
make an important contribution to the democratisation and development that
needs to take place.
• Television - Television means “to see at a distance”. It is
transmission of images and sounds to distant screens by
means of electrical or radio waves. John L. Baird showed the
live television pictures in London in 1926. The first television
service in South Africa was introduced on 5 January 1976.
Today SABC channels broadcast in all 11 languages reaching
an estimated 18 million people.
Information Age
• Also known as the computer or digital age.
• The rapid development of technology has provided
greater access to information, in terms of both speed
and information.
• The explosion brought about by computer technology
has led to the revision of many laws regulating access
to and communication of information.
The Internet
• The internet makes use of almost any kind of electronic transmission
promoting the sharing of information, enhancing business transactions
in terms of reducing time to send and access information and supporting
global interaction between organisations and people.
• The Internet can be regarded as a universal library, the worlds first viable
commercial democracy. The Internet is not free and users have to
register with a service provider and also pay for the time spent on the
Internet. Some websites provide information free of charge while others
rely on subscription fees.
 E-mail - E-mail has become an essential part of communication within and
between organisations. It has replaced letters, faxes and telephone calls in both
business and personal lives. E-mail is fast, cheap and reliable.
 The World Wide Web (WWW) - is a part of Internet in which information is

presented. Tim Berners-Lee created it in 1989 at the CERN Particle Physics
Laboratories in Switzerland. The WWW combines words, graphics, video and
sound, adds colours and includes advertising and downloadable texts and
programmes. It is possible to search for information on almost any topic using a
key word or phrase. A collection of papers belonging to the same organisation is
called a “web site”.
 Newsgroups and chatrooms - newsgroups and chatrooms enable people who
share the same interests from all over the world to communicate. A chatroom is
an electronic gathering place for people with similar interests.
 Teleconferencing - is a way to hold meetings with people who are in different

distant locations and is a substitute for face-to-face communication.
Videoconferencing and Audioconferencing use telephone and video technology.
 Telecommuting - enables people to work at home three or four times a week.

They are connected to the main office by a computer and is widespread in the
United States.
Activity
1. The five major stages of the development of human communication
are distinguished according to different stages:
a) List them in historical order.
b) Write down the medium or technological development that characterised each age.
2. Briefly describe the most important social outcome of the
development of the age of electronic mass media. .
3. To which electronic mass media are you exposed daily and how has the use of these enriched your
life?

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A brief history of Communication

• Can you imagine life without your blackberry, facebook, mixit or

• Did you ever wonder how communication began or how it

• Communication has changed dramatically over the past decade.

• For generations cave paintings provided people with a way of

 The World Wide Web (WWW) - is a part of Internet in which information is

 Teleconferencing - is a way to hold meetings with people who are in different

 Telecommuting - enables people to work at home three or four times a week.

are distinguished according to different stages:

a) List them in historical order.

2. Briefly describe the most important social outcome of the

development of the age of electronic mass media. .

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