Roger's Diffusion Theory and The Personal Computer

The personal computer is without doubt one of the most important communication technologies to affect modern society. It enables anyone with access to a computer and internet to find and use massive amounts of data. Through Roger's Diffusion Theory, we are going to analyze the rate at which the personal computer spread and find out who falls into the category of adopters.

Innovators: This group takes up a mere 2.5 percent of the personal computer adopters. These innovators include the founders and early employees of some of the Silicon Valley tech giants. They were the first to own and buy the product. This group is obtaining the PC during the early 1970s. 

Early Adopters: With the introduction of better software and operating systems, more people become willing to invest in a personal computer. In 1984, the Macintosh operating system wiped out all non Mac and PC manufacturers. With the ease of use in application packages and shortcuts, consumers were not required to know code to execute programs.

Early Majority: During the 1990s , this 34% early majority began purchasing the personal computers of Microsoft at higher rates than any other manufacturers. With the introduction of the Internet in the late 1990s, PCs become even more viable as a household communication technology. People are now able to access hoards of data from the comfort of their own desk.

Late Majority: The late majority consists of people who did not necessarily see a need for the personal computer but decided to purchase one after the increase in appeal from the the early majority. This group consists of some of the younger generations who were considered to be "tech savvy," but they may have been skeptical about the technology.

Laggards: The laggards make up the remaining 16% of people who waited or did not ever purchase a personal computer. This group most likely consists of some of the older generations and technophobes. The laggards saw personal computers as a waste of time and money and preferred older methods of obtaining information. To this day, there are still many people who do not own a computer, even as laptops have replaced the need for many desktops. 

YouTube and Its Thousands of Terabytes of Videos (EOTO Response)

 Each second of the day, an hour of video is being uploaded to YouTube. This means that two and a half gigabytes of video are uploaded to the site every second. This is a massive amount of content stored in the form of data for anyone with internet access to find. According to their stats, YouTube warehouses hold a capacity of over four-hundred-thousand terabytes of file storage. How did the now Google owned company reach such a massive scale?

YouTube is a video sharing site free to anyone with an account. It holds millions of videos ranging on many different topics. Since its creation in 2005, YouTube has become one of the most popular video streaming sites in the world. Its content comes almost solely from its users, another reason as to why the site is so popular. GCF Global furthers that the site's visitors watch over 6 billion hours of video each month. People who have ever seen a video online have probably seen a video from the YouTube platform because its popularity has grown so substantially.

The emergence of YouTube as a social media giant has had many effects on communication in general. It has led to easy access to information. Many YouTube videos provide tutorials and lectures. Others are an amazing source of entertainment. People of all ages find media that they can enjoy on the site. User generated content has changed the media industry because individuals have more freedom and opportunity to create videos. This in turn allows for widespread advertising and user earnings. YouTube currently is a platform that awards successful channels with earnings. However, we will always remember the site as the expressive place to find videos that can distract us from the struggles of everyday life.

The Printing Press Is the Most Important Invention in Communication Technology (EOTO)

The printing press was a revolutionary piece of technology which transformed the world of information and knowledge. Printing caused revolutions, mixed societal structure, and changed the world politically and economically for the better. For these reasons, I think that the invention of the printing press was the most revolutionary invention in communication technology.

A replica of the first printing press

The first form of European moveable type was created by Johannes Gutenberg, a german goldsmith who was exiled to France where he spent over ten years perfecting his printing press. While there is dispute over who created the earliest printing press, the Gutenberg press was the most efficient and became a widespread piece of machinery at alarmingly fast rates. In only fifty years after its introduction, hundreds of European cities used the printing press invented by Gutenberg. 

The preceding Chinese version of the printing press used carved wooden blocks to stamp characters in ink onto paper. Gutenberg's printing press utilized about three hundred lead castings of individual letters. These molds were arranged to be stamped onto pressed paper, a process which was repeated quickly. Gutenberg created his own ink to properly compliment the metal stamps. History.com provides that he even pressed his own paper using a wine press. The first product of Gutenberg's invention was a bible. The bible was printed in Latin and almost two hundred copies of the book were produced from the printing press. This version of the bible is known as Gutenberg's Bible.

The a copy of the Gutenberg Bible

Now the question remains, why is the printing press so important? What elements of its impact make it more revolutionary than the internet or computer? The spread of the printing press meant that we would see the first worldwide spread of ideas. There was a mass production of information. Global news networks popped up, texts were translated and spread throughout the world, ancient artifacts and fragments of history were now easily preserved and expanded. Prior to the press, books were hand copied and written by scribes. One manuscript cost almost as much as a house. When printing eliminated the need for multiple scribes and hours of writing, knowledge and literacy became something of the common man. The upper class no longer held the monopoly on information.

In addition to making information much more accessible to the lower class, increased printing of information accelerated movements and revolutions. The Renaissance movement was thrusted into Mannerism. The Scientific Revolution benefited from scientists printing and sharing their findings across the globe. Enlightenment Era political ideologies were printed on pamphlets and newspapers. They changed the political structures of many countries, stirring revolutions in the Americas. Economic interactions changed with the ability to mass produce in a different medium. Records and exchange history were easily documentable.

To conclude, without the printing press and the rapid expanse of information accessibility, the revolutionary exchange of information would not have happened. This means the world of technology would have been slowed and isolated. The internet is a close second to the printing press, but is the later, more modern version of the older technology. Without the printing press, history would have been slowed substantially.