A celebration of communication technology


This week's word is: Technology!  Word of the Week is a bit different this week as we are celebrating technology. As I shared on Monday, I'm celebrating communication technology this week in honor of Johannes Gutenberg (the inventor of the printing press) who died on Feb. 3rd in 1468.  The printing press was a huge advancement in communication, but there have been many others that have contributed to our growing and changing communication.  Here are just a few of the amazing technological advancements in communication: 1439 Gutenberg's Printing Press 1835 Samuel Morse develops Morse Code 1876 Alexander Graham Bell exhibits the electric telephone 1877 Thomas Edison patents the phonograph 1901 Guglielmo Marconi transmits radio signals 1925 John Logie Baird transmits the first television signal 1963 First geosynchronous communications satellite is launched 1989 Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau built the prototype system which became the World Wide Web The question becomes whether or not these advancements have increased our effectiveness as it's increased our reach.  I believe the advancements have both helped and hurt us as a social community.  I have written several articles on this and I'll refer you to them here, but I'd like to ask what YOUR take on it is. Communication Technology Doesn't Replace Communication Skill! How Important is Face-to-Face Communication in the Computer Age? Influence of Texting on Communication Skills Joseph Priestley said, “The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate.” What is your experience with communication technology vs communication effectiveness?  Please share and pass this link along to others so they may share their experiences as well.   If you liked this post, please subscribe to our RSS feed and share the link…

5 comments


  • epmhykqltr

    Muchas gracias. ?Como puedo iniciar sesion?


  • Carla

    I believe Priestly was right and still is. While I don’t want to give up my modern communication methods, I think we forget that we need a balance. Everything becomes impersonal today. In some instances that’s good, but in some it’s not good at all. We need a good mix of electronic and in-person communication and, sadly, I feel that’s becoming lost. :(


  • JoJo

    Technology is mostly a good thing; we just need to make sure we learn to be effective at whichever method we choose to use. Takes more communication skill today than it used to because there are more options and we are communicating to a larger community of diverse views.


  • Cindy Holman

    I agree with Carla – I don’t WANT to give up modern technology either! It has done so much for me personally and opened up a new chapter in my journey for new friendships through social media and the blogging community. I guess if I didn’t know any differently – then what would be the difference – but there is no turning back to the old days – much as some people lament. I love that I can facetime with my son in California anytime I want – I don’t have to wait for a letter to come in the mail – or an occasional phone call – (not even that before the telephone). 30+ years ago when I was engaged to Greg – he worked in Alaska for the summer before our September 5th wedding – and we talked once a week on the phone long distance. It was EXPENSIVE and I lived at home. Now I could have known what he was doing, thinking and feeling every hour of every day we were apart. I would have liked that :)


  • JoJo

    I’m not advocating we give up anything. Just that we should understand that we need to BEEF up our study of communication skills along side it.


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