Evolution of Electronic Communication

What is electronic communication? An electronic communication is "communication by

How did it start? An electronic battery, invented in 1799, pulled the trigger for electronic
communication. J.C. Maxwell created an electromagnetic equation in 1864, which later on was verified
and used for radio transmission. Liquid crystal was also invented in 1888. These factors led to the
establishment of electromechanical switch and AM radio broadcast. E. Armstrong demonstrated the FM
transmission, commercial TV broadcast began, and finally the first digital computer using vacuum tubes
was invented in 1946. The Theory of Information (C.E. Shannon), the solar cell, the transatlantic
telephone cable, the laser, and the digital switch all led to the Telstar 1 satellite launch. Several satellites
were launched after Telstar 1, such as the WWW in 1991, and scientists are still continuing to launch
satellites. Compact disc (CD) and Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), providing an ability to store large amounts
of data in a small space, was revolutionary as well. However, as electronic communication became part
of our daily lives, people began to question the rights of people through electronic communication.

The Internet

The Establishment of the Internet. One of the most popular electronic communications
is the Internet. The Internet was first used in 1969, and few people in universities began to
communicate with each other over the network around 1971. By this time, E-mail, a program to
send messages across a distributed network, was created. By 1973, global networking became a
reality, with many users. However, it was not until 1991 when modernization began; WWW, also
known as the World Wide Web was created, Microsoft entered the world, and
commercialization began.

Consequences of Internet Use. Thanks to the Internet, people are able to communicate
with each other globally through social networking sites, online games, or popular forums.
However, there are cons and pros to the usage of the Internet.

Disadvantages. There are a variety of things that can go wrong on the internet. Two of
them are:

Cyber bullying

Piracy

Advantages. However, much good can be done through the internet, if it is utilized
correctly. Two examples are:

keeps us updated
 makes life easier

Hence, it is up to us, users, whether the Internet and the World Wide Web will benefit us
or not.

Examples of Electronic Communication

Radio. Radio, one of the world’s greatest successes, has many founding fathers,
including Henrich Hertz who was the first to prove that electric waves may be transmitted
wirelessly, Nikola Tesla who discovered the basis for most alternating-current machinery, and
Edwin Armstrong who created the FM radio. Radio now includes AM and FM. AM stands for
Amplitude Modulation, and FM stands for Frequency Modulation. The difference between AM
and FM is how the carrier save is altered. FM has advantages over Am because with an FM
broadcast, slight changes in amplitude wouldn’t matter due to the changes in frequency.

Cell-phones. Cell-phones were first commercialized by AT&T in 1947. At first, calls were
set up manually by an operator and the user had to depress a button on the handset to talk and
release the button to listen. AT&T then improved its mobile phones in 1965 which used
additional radio channels, customer dialing, and the size and weight of the equipment was
reduced. The "second generation" mobile phone systems emerged, which used digital instead of
analog transmission. These 2G phones became more widespread, but this 2G technology was
nowhere near up the job, so engineers came up with the 3G phone. Then the 4G phone was
introduced in 2009, which eliminated circuit switching. Smart-phones became popular by 2011,
starting with the Apple product, the iPhone.

Television. The discovery of the photoconductivity of the element selenium in 1873 was
the beginning of mechanical television. The modern changeable television receiver was created
in 1948, and white and black television became popular in the 1940s. Color Television was
authorized in 1953, and Cable television became popular around the 1940s. Plasma TV was
invented in 1964, and Web TV was rolled out in 1996. Television now includes more than two
hundred channels, and it is able to transport live news through the satellite.

Timeline of Events:

1729. Stephen Grey discovered that electricity could be transmitted over large distances using wires as
long as they were insulated.

1800. The electric battery was invented by Volta, but at this time there was still no practical use for it.

1834. Charles Wheatstone experimented with the rate of transmission of electricity along 1/2 mile of
insulated (suspended) copper wire.

1837. Charles Wheatstone and William Cooke acquire a patent for a 5 needle telegraph.

Samuel Morse also showcased his telegraph.

1844. Charles Wheatstone did submarine telegraph experiments in Swansea bay.

1850. First successful submarine telegraph cable laid between England and France by John Watkins
Brett's.

1851. A total of 51 telegraph companies are now in operation.

1852. A Manchester cotton mill merchant, John Pender, became directory of the English and Irish
Magnetic Telegraph Company.

1854. It is proven by John Tyndall that light can be sent through a curved stream of water and therefore
bent.

1860. The Morse Inker was invented to allow messages sent in Morse Code to be recorded

1866. The first successful transatlantic cable was laid using a special ship designed by Brunel.

1870. Brunel's ship also laid the Bombay Porthcurno line.

1872. Pender merged all of his many telegraph companies to create The Eastern Telegraph Company; it
was the first global company of its kind.

1876. Alexander Graham Bell acquires a patent for the electric telephone.

1900. The Eastern Telegraph Company has approximately 150,000kmi of submarine cables in its
network.

Porthcurno telegraph station now is connected to India, South Africa, Australia and the Americasii.

1901. Marconi is the first to successfully wirelessly communicate between Cornwall and Newfoundland.

1914. Wireless and wired telegraphy were used for communication in WWI, the Porthcurno telegraph
station was used to censor and transmit information for the war effort.

1923. The First mobile two way radio was developed by Senior Constable Frederick William Downie in
Australia.

Transceiver -a radio that can both transmit and receive signal.

Radios were first installed on large commercial and military ships. As plane became more common
two way radios became extremely useful for ground to air communication. Once the technology was
small enough these devices found a home on emergency vehicles like police cars and fire trucks which
allowed for rapid responses to emergency.
The first walkie-talkie was the size of a backpack. Designed to be used by soldiers, the first walkie-
talkie had to be worn on your back. One soldier would wear it and another operates it while standing
behind him.

Walkie-talkie - Handie-talkie.

Smartphones are two way radios, unlike walkie talkies, smartphones require sattelites to
communicate. Smartphones also has the ability to both transmit and receive simultaneously that's
because smartphones can operate on multiple frequencies at the same time.

Simplex mode-early two way schemes allowed only one station to transmit at a time while others
listened since all signals we're on the same radio frequency.

Walkie talkies has its roots in World War II.

A signaler with the SCR-536 walkie-talkie was the first handheld model.

136MHz-900MHz applicable frequency for two way radios according to FCC(Federal Communications
Commission)

Donald L. Hings-an employee of a canadian mining company has the strongest case for inventing
walkie-talkie given to the device as a way to help workers in remote areas to communicate with one
another.

Walkie-talkie as a toy operates in frequency ranging from 27MHz-49MHz.

Motorolai570- a nextel phone which had a function where you could press a button and use it as a
walkie talkie for your group of friends or co-workers.

50 miles, 22 channels, 142 privacy codes per channel.

1924. Marconi is the first to telephone Australia using radio waves; he later gets contracts from the Post
Office to setup wireless telegraphy circuits to other countries as well as Australia

1925. A new system is setup to automatically relay Telegraph messages.

1929. The Eastern Telegraph Company is merged with the Wireless Telegraph Company to form The
Imperial and International Communications Company as a result of a government order.

1934. Imperial and International Communications was renamed Cable and Wireless Limited.

1935. The world's first around the world telephone call using radio and cable happens.

1937. Donald L. Hings invetion of pack-set was used.

1940. The first police FM radio communication is setup in Hartford.

1944. A telephone submarine cable is laid across the English Channel.

Cable & Wireless is nationalised and becomes part of the Post Office.

1956. The first transatlantic telephone cable is laid making it easier for the UK to call overseas.

1957. The USSR launches the world's first artificial satellite Sputnik 1, it transmitted low frequency radio
frequencies.

1960. The Ruby Laser is invented which is considered to be the first successful optical light laser.

1962. NASA launches its first artificial satellite Telstar.

First non-public then later public television images are transmitted via Telstar between Europe and the
USA.

1964. The "Post Office Tower" is built in London to handle ever increasing telephone communications.

1966. Cable & Wireless built their first earth satellite to assist with the Apollo moon landings.

1972. Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf invented TCP

1973. Robert Metcalfe invents Ethernet to wire local computers together.

1975. The development of their first commercial fibre optic communication system was finished.

1988. TAT-8 was setup and was the first transatlantic optical fibre cable.

1991. Tim Burners-Lee invents the World Wide Web.

1994. The W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) is setup to help set web standards.

2001. Wikipedia is created by Jimmy Wales

2006. Using fourth generation fibre optic technology it was possible to send data at a rate of 14TB/s
compared to the 6MB/s that was possible with the first generation.

2012 and a bit beyond. HTML5 and CSS3 are being developed to improve the capabilities of websites.

Conclusion

Electronic communication takes in many forms such as the Internet, radio, television, and cell-
phones. Even though electronic communication has various downsides to it, electronic communication
will benefit us if we use it the right way. Electronic Communication will continue to shape our daily lives
with new inventions to come.