Telecom engineering has revolutionized how we communicate with one another, from how we meet new love interests to how we pay our bills, fundamentally changing our culture along the way. From telegrams to cell phones, the ingenuity and possibility that telecommunication allows has transformed our world forever.
By bringing information faster than ever before through the telegraph, radio, and now the Internet, telecommunication engineering has enabled humanity to make consistent progress. Here is a look back at the technologies that got us where we are today.
The Telegraph
In the mid 1800’s, the introduction of the telegraph and Morse code, the namesake of Samuel Morse, revolutionized long distance communication. Their ability to quickly transport news allowed journalism to flourish, and helped support a burgeoning newspaper industry. The lasting impact of Morse code is apparent from its integral role in war communication in World War II, as well as the Korean and Vietnam wars.
Radio
The golden age of radio transformed home entertainment in the 1930’s. It allowed communities to unite over common interests and changed how news was experienced. Radio brought the baseball diamond into to the American living room. Fans could experience the game in the moment, which skyrocketed baseball’s popularity. Radio was at the forefront of changing how we connect with others and entertain ourselves.
Telephone
The evolution of the telegraph into the telephone took place in the 1870’s in the hands of Alexander Graham Bell. Popular from the 1890’s to the 1930’s, the candlestick phone featured a separate earpiece and mouthpiece. However, this quickly gave way to the rotary phone, whose popularity was maintained until the 1970’s. The improvement of the telephone over the telegraph is that it personalized communication while still maintaining speed and efficiency.
Skype and Communication on the Internet
With the rise of the Internet, competition from what are coined, “over-the-top” firms like Skype and Vonage has challenged traditional telecommunications providers by providing alternatives to the telephone. These upstart providers have changed the face oral herpes transmission of traditional telecom firms, as communication can now flourish over entities like email, online gaming, and even on virtual worlds. The Internet has irrevocably transformed communication, and made it possible for communication to manifest in ways like never before. Take for instance, Twitter’s role in the Egyptian revolution, which saw the overthrow of an entire regime by ordinary citizens armed only with social media.
The Internet of Things
By 2020, 50 billion devices around the globe will be connected by the Internet, not only including the personal devices that we use on a daily basis, but buildings, lamp posts, and traffic lights, too. For instance, AT&T’s partnership with the Smarter Cities Council brings AT&T’s telecom background to improving cities to render them more livable, workable, and sustainable. These initiatives range from remotely managed lighting to smarter transportation that more adeptly controls traffic signals, and alerts passengers to incoming public transportation. It is clear that the future of how we live will soon be aided by innovation in the telecom industry, as our environments are now able to exchange information with us.
The exchange of information in conjunction with the technology that telecommunications supports has opened up the digital age to a future of smarter, autonomous cities and, for better or worse, a changing social landscape. The wealth of information and data that advances in telecommunication engineering have supported form the backbone of our economy and society, and of our past and our future.
