Hi freinds, I am Joy and i am Jennifer. welcome to the world of communication. So today we
are going to show you the Evolution of Communication.
What differentiate us human from animals is the way we communicate with each other. Here
we will show you a brief history of how communication system evolved.
The whole journey of communication started with the caveman. The cavemen used to gather
around fire to discuss their day to day activities. We can compare this to modern day social networking
sites such as facebook. The one sudden day they decided to record their activities or
knowledge. The cavemen then started to inscribing on the the caves. We can compare this to modern day
blogging. The problem with this communication method was it was localised. When people started
moving out of the caves, long distance communication became very important.
Smoke Signal
This was the first long distance communication. It was used in Northern America
where each tribe has its own signalling system. A smoke from top of the hill signified danger.
Smoke signal was also used in Ancient China. The soldiers stationed at the Great Wall would
alert for danger using smoke signal from tower to tower. In this way they could transmit
message as far as 750km within a few hours. The smoke signal is still used in Vatican
to indicate the selection of new Pope.
Pigeons
Due to their natural homing ability pigeons were extensively used for long distance communication.
The Pigeons were used by Persians, Romans, Greeks, Mughals. In 19th Century Pigeons
were also used to transmit stock quotations from one city to another. Cher Ami, a homing
pigeon, was awarded the French War Cross for her services during world war 1.
TV series Game of Thrones has shown the use of Raven instead of pigeon for long distance
communication.
Pony Express
From ancient time Kings have been using human messenger to relay messages. Pony express
was a first of its kind mail service delivering messages, mails, newspapers and small packages
by horseback using small relay stations. It is regarded as the first courier service.
It was used in the mid 19th Century to communicate between East Coast and West Coast of America.
Semaphore Flag
Semaphore flag was used in maritime during the late 19th century. The word semaphore
is derived from greek word sema meaning sign and phero meaning bearer. It is the telegraphy
system conveying information at a distance by means of visual signals with hand-held
flags, rods and disk. It is still used during underway replenishment at sea and is acceptable
mode of communication for emergency.
Telegraph
Telegraphy was the greatest breakthrough in the field of communication. Although the smoke
signal and semaphore flags were different form of telegraphy but the harnessing of electricity
in the late 19th Century gave birth to electric telegraphy. Morse code is still used globally
as a mode of communication. Till a couple of decades ago Telegraphy was the most popular
form of long distance communication. The US discontinued the use of Telegraph in 2006.
India's BSNL owned telegraph service ended in 2013. It was reportedly the world's last
existing true electric commercial telegraph system.
RADIO - The term Radio in latin means Beam of light.
In 1864 James Clerk Maxwell showed mathematically that electromagnetic waves could propagate
through free space. The effects of electromagnetic waves were observed before and after Maxwell
but no one could detect its presence. In 1886 Heinrich Hertz established the existence of
Electromagnetic Waves. In 1888 he demonstrated that one could produce and detect electromagnetic
waves which we today call as radio waves. In November 1894 Jagadish Chandra Bose at
Town Hall of Kolkata ignited gunpowder and rang a bell kept at a distance using microwave.
During the same time an Italian Scientist Guglielmo Marconi made an electric bell which
went off during lightning. This was just the beginning of a whole new era of distant communication.
Early 20th century radio system transmitted message using continuous waves only. Amplitude
modulation was demonstrated for the transmission of voice and music but with little success.
World War 1 accelerated the development of radio for military communication. After the
war commercial radio broadcasting began in 1920 and was a big hit. World war 2 again
accelerated the development of wartime purposes for aircraft and land communication.
Telephone Until now real time communication was was
confined to diplomatic purposes or for broadcasting. Still telegram was the Fastest one to one
communication used by common people. In 1876 Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.
At first, the benefits of a telephone exchange were not exploited. Instead telephones were
leased in pairs to a subscriber, who had to arrange for a telegraph contractor to construct
a line between them, for example between a home and a shop. It was a luxury that only
rich people could afford. Later telephones took advantage of the exchange principle already
employed in telegraph networks. Each telephone was wired to a local telephone exchange, and
the exchanges were wired together with trunks. Networks were connected in a hierarchical
manner until they spanned cities, countries, continents and oceans. This was the beginning
of the public Switch Telephone Network or PSTN.
The major progress took place after the second world war.
So friends,Here we have seen history of communication started from caveman to telephone. But this
is just a beginning of golden era in the field of communication,
in the next video we will talk about, how communication system evolved from wired to
wireless and local to global. Also we will see the role of government to regulate wireless
spectrum .and role of private companies to develop existing network of 4th Generation
So friends, don't forget to subscribe our channel and like our videos and Stay tuned
for upcoming videos.