Class Presentations: Telephone

        I have grown up in an age of so much technological evolvement. All my life I have had a phone whether it be a land line or a cell phone, one has been available to me, but I never knew the history behind the phone until these presentations. 1876 was the year the patent was given for the first telephone, yet in my mind telephones have only been around since the mid 20th century. I was shocked by how early phones and other communication devices were being created. AT&T has been around since 1877-this information through me off guard. I really did not think AT&T would be so old, I thought it was maybe 40 maybe 50 years old max. I did not believe it was created so many years ago. I found it interesting that the phone has helped improve communication with the deaf since when I think phone, I think phone call-this is something I definitely want to look into more. Overall, the presentation on the telephone and the advances it has made truly taught me a lot. I came to find I really knew nothing about this technology. 

Blog 6: EOTO: Typewriter

 

    Technology has and continues to evolve everyday-a prime example of this would be the typewriter. The typewriter was first patented on June 23, 1868 the patent was given to Christopher Latham Sholes; however, this was not the first printing machine to be thought of. In 1714, Henry Mill came up with the idea of a mass printing machine, and earned a patent for his idea; however, no design or physical machine was every built. From 1868 to 1873, 50 typewriters were manufactured, but none were sold, resulting in the sale of the patent to a gun manufacturer. This sale resulted in the Sholes and Glidden typewriter, this design gave us the QWERTY keyboard design that we know and use today on all our computers and most other devices. They keyboard was also designed to have the keys spaced out so they would not jam when typing. It was, however, more of a decorative machine that looked like a sewing machine. In fact, it was manufactured by the Remington arms company in the sewing machine department. While this design was a bigger hit than the original, it still wasn't a big hit, thus creating the Remington-S&G's successor.  

    The design of the Underwood 1, created in 1896, was extremely popular with the four-row keyboard, front key striking that allowed users to see what they were typing (all typewriters before this did not have this design), and included the shift key to allow capitalization. This machine had superior design compared to all the machines that came before it. By the end of the 20th century typewriters were common machines to be seen in offices and other work places; but, unfortunately, they created a lot of noise, paving the way for the Noiseless Typewriter Company. Unfortunately, it did not go as well as it's designers originally planned. In 1935, IBM Model 01 was released as the first successful electric typewriter. This design allowed for lighter keystrokes and the keys were less spaced out as a result. IBM was so successful they continued to redesign and improve their models. In 1961, the IBM Selectric typewriter was released. This model had a keyboard that looks similar to the ones on our computers today. It was able to have different fonts, italics, etc on the same paper. IBM quickly became the front runner for typewriter design and sales until personal computers and laptops started to make their way into the market. 

    While our society has moved on to new technology like Macs and other PCs and laptops typewriters were and still are extremely beneficial in society. Many third world countries still have typewriters manufactured and are used daily. They are more beneficial to them as typewriters require no electricity and are a cheaper alternative to expensive computers. Typewriters are extremely precise, so they are still used a lot to create forms. There is an instant print out, you do not have to deal with printers, once you are done typing you just take the paper out and there you have your finished paper. There is no negative outcome to your eyes even after hours of use unlike with computers and their screens. However, there are still disadvantages to this machine. You can not just hit backspace when you mess up, you have to white out, allow it to dry, and start all over hoping you didn't forget your thought during the process. You are only able to make one copy at a time, and you can not include graphics with it. 

Citations:

Xavier.edu "A Brief History of Typewriters" https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-history.html

BT.com "The History of the Typewriter" https://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/computing/accessories/from-the-writing-machine-to-the-computer-keyboard-the-evolution-of-the-typewriter-11363991455145

Itstillworks.com "Advantages of Typewriters" https://itstillworks.com/13638091/advantages-of-typewriters

Blog 5: 8 Values

 

    "Freedom of expression refers to the ability of an individual or group to express their beliefs, thoughts, ideas, and emotions about different issues free from government censorship."-Freedom Forum Institute. Market Place of Ideas, Participation in Self Government, Stable Change, Individual Self Fulfillment, Check on Governmental Power, Promote Tolerance, Promote Innovation, and Protect Dissent are the 8 values of free expression, a huge part of being an American. The great thing about America is that we are able to freely express ourselves without the government censoring us. We are able to say whatever we want, but that does not mean we can't get in trouble for what we say. 

    Free expression is so important for the American people, it is a core value for our other amendments. Free expression covers our freedom of speech, and press, it helps inform the public. So many other countries are told what they are allowed to publish in the news, America is able to publish whatever they want, this can be good and bad in some ways, but this way we are not told by the government what to say the civilians. Like they say, knowledge is power. Without free expression our reporting is restrained, when the whole story can not be told citizens can be in danger. This is a huge part of why free expression is so important, it can be extremely helpful for civilians. 

   Not only does free expression help civilians when it comes to news reporting, but it can also help inform voters. When we are more informed we are stronger voters and when we are stronger voters we have more fair elections which then creates better democracies. When we are more informed as voters we are able to decide for ourselves who we wish to vote for, who fits our ideology. Free expression also allows for you to advocate for your chosen advocate without the government punishing you in any way. So many countries do not even have the ability to chose who runs their country, we are lucky to be able to not only vote for who we want, but let others know who we are voting for and why we think other people should vote for them. Of course, there are some rules to go along with this, like not being able to advocate for your candidate within so many feet of a polling place. We are able to post our thoughts online, place signs in our yards, where tee shirts, and more. 

    We have to remember how lucky we are to have been able to be American citizens, we don't understand how our simple rights are rights that billions of other people all over the world do not have. 

    

    

Sources: 

https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/about/faq/what-is-freedom-of-expression/#:~:text=Freedom%20of%20expression%20refers%20to,issues%20free%20from%20government%20censorship.&text=Some%20scholars%20group%20several%20of,term%20%E2%80%9Cfreedom%20of%20expression.%E2%80%9D

https://10years.mediadefence.org/10-reasons-freedom-of-expression/#:~:text=Freedom%20of%20expression%20is%20a%20core%20value%20in%20the%20democratic,others%2C%20without%20censorship%20or%20reprisals.