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Dynamics of Modern Communication
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Dynamics of Modern Communication
The Shaping and Impact of New Communication Technologies



October 1995 | 192 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd
Patrice Flichy offers a profound analysis of the social shaping and impact of the major communication technologies of the last 200 years.

From the semaphore and telegraph to contemporary information technologies, Dynamics of Modern Communication focuses on the relationship between technological and social change. Particular emphasis is put on four processes: the birth of the modern state at the end of the eighteenth century; the development of stock markets; the transformation of private life in the modern nuclear family; and the individualism of the late twentieth century.

Exploring the interaction of technology and social context - for example, in the move from public methods of communication to more private and individualized forms - Flichy exposes the gap between the original conception of a technology and its end use after the interplay of political, economic and consumer forces.

 
Introduction
 
PART ONE: FROM STATE-CONTROLLED COMMUNICATION TO MARKET-CONTROLLED COMMUNICATION (1790-1870)
 
Introduction
 
State-Controlled Communication
The Semaphore Telegraph

 
 
Networks and Electricity
 
Market-Controlled Communication
The Electric Telegraph

 
 
PART TWO: FAMILY COMMUNICATION (1870-1930)
 
Introduction
 
Collection and Souvenir
Photography and the Gramophone

 
 
From Trading in Goods to Trading in Souls
The Telephone

 
 
The Wireless Age
Radio Broadcasting

 
 
PART THREE: GLOBAL COMMUNICATION (1930-1990)
 
Introduction
 
Telephone Engineers' Technical Options
 
The Triumph of Electronics
Television and Computers

 
 
Private Communication
 
Final Reflections

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