EOTO Presentations - BLOG #6

The brief timeline of communication technology.

Out of all of the presentations, I decided to focus on three things from Group 3 that stood out to me the most: the radio, pens, and motion pictures. These were all things that I obviously knew existed, but I had never really thought about how much had to happen for them to become what we know today.

Guglielmo Marconi

The radio was probably the most fascinating to me. I had no idea that there were so many different people credited with its invention instead of one clear inventor. It was also interesting to learn how important radio became for communication, especially for ships, and how it basically created an entirely new wave of science and technology. Radios eventually became smaller, and the technology behind them helped lead to things we use today, like Bluetooth and Apple Pay. That connection genuinely never would have crossed my mind.

Pen Evolution

I also never thought I would be fascinated by the history of a pen, but here we are. I was shocked that the rollerball pen was first invented in 1888, and then even more shocked to learn that it wasn't actually successful. László Bíró improved the design in the 1930s, but it didn't really become popular until the 1940s. Did none of y'all need to journal before then??

Finally, I loved learning about motion pictures. Early inventions like the Kinetoscope and Kinetograph eventually helped turn moving images into an entire entertainment industry. The first public film exhibition happened in 1895, helping movies become mass entertainment.

The Horse in Motion

Coming from a HUGE movie lover, thank GOD. It is crazy to think that something that started so simply eventually became one of the biggest forms of entertainment in the world.

AI Disclosure: This blog post was written with the help of Grammarly. While I was writing, Grammarly gave optional suggestions that I chose every now and then to make corrections in my writing and make it sound better/more concise.