1. INTRODUCTION

The world’s vast oceans seemingly separate the diverse cultures and societies on each continent. Even when some cultures are geographically connected, humans will build non-physical barriers that seemingly separate cultures and societies. One major takeaway from the History of Information Technology course was that no matter the culture or society, when it comes to the development of information technology, the factors the driving factors are all the same. Of all the driving factors I encountered, there were three main factors that were especially prevalent across all of my research.  Assisting me in realizing this was the ePortfolio platform which was a great organizational asset where I could easily refer to my previous assignments. The research I have done for this course has shown that between all of the diverse cultures and societies of the world, their development of technology has been driven by an endless desire for convenience, reliability, and political motives as shown in examples from written communication in ancient China to wired communication in 19^th century United States.

2. SOCIETY AND CULTURE SIMILARITIES

2.1 Convenient technology

Ease of access, speed of use, and usability are all ways to describe convenience as it relates to information technology. Through the course of History of Information Technology, I realized that the human desire for convenience drives the development of information technology across cultures and societies, no matter where they are in the world. In my first essay [Artifact 1] I researched the written communication methods of ancient China. Essentially, the written Chinese language started as a simple pictographic script and transformed into an advanced logographic writing system. Through the course of several dynasty, ancient Chinese people realized that writing in a pictographic script had absolutely no ease of access, speed of use or usability needed to be convenient. Therefore, it became clear to the Chinese people that in order to have an effective writing system it needed to be usable by the common people i.e. convenient to the masses. In my third essay [Artifact 3] I researched telegraph communication. Long distance methods of communication already existed prior to the telegraph, but it was made clear that a desire for a more convenient method of long distance communication helped drive the development of the telegraph. The first mass use of the telegraph came in the United States during the 19^th century. This immediately shows an entire shift in culture and society from ancient China. However, I realized that even in the 19^th century U.S., the same main driving factor that helped the Chinese was also present. For example, prior to the development of the telegraph, the U.S. did have forms of long distance communication. Alike with Chinese early writing systems, the U.S.’s forms of long distance communication were very cumbersome. Therefore, American designers responded to the demands for convenient methods of long distance communication and developed the telegraph. As it can be seen with the examples from vastly different societies, the people’s desire for convenience helped drive the development of better technology. But, from my research I found that not only so societies have similarities in the demands for convenience, but they also have in common the fact that they demand their technology to consistently work.

2.2 Reliable technology

In order for it to be effective, technology must work consistently when it is used. This can be described as reliability and in the History of Information Technology, I discovered that in addition to convenience, reliability is a major change factor. In my second writing assignment [Artifact 2] I discussed how the development of the helicopter as a means of transportation was continually improved upon because societies in various countries demanded more reliable models. The first helicopters started off as flying contraptions that did indeed work, but not necessarily every time and to its full potential. Also, the helicopter needed to be reliable in any environment or role it could be used in around the world. Given that, the demand for reliability drove designers to continuously build better models of the helicopter. Even though each specific helicopter model varied across societies, they all had in common the fact that they demanded it to be more reliable. In my third writing assignment [Artifact 3] I discovered that there was initially slow support for the telegraph because it did not consistently work. Much like the initial helicopters invented, the first telegraph did indeed work, but not every time it was used. The innovators responded to the calls for a more reliable method of sending the messages, which led to special insulated wires to be built. Clearly, across societies, reliability was a common factor in the development of new technology. But, how societies put the reliable and convenient technology to use is something in common.

2.3 Technology for political use

When analyzing exactly how societies put their technologies to use, I came across a similarity in all of my research. No matter the society, the ruling elite/political hierarchy would always play a major role in the development of information technology. This is extremely important because the political hierarchy of society generally has more resources at its disposal in order to ensure that technology is created to its full potential. For example, it was made clear that two very different societies; ancient China and 19^th century United States both had means of communication technology developed in part because of the need for it as a political tool. From the very first dynasties in China, politics played a role in the development of information technology. In my first essay [Artifact 1] I found in my research that Chinese script was improved because the political leader in an early Chinese dynasty needed a better way to keep records. As the political elite, that Chinese emperor demanded a better method of writing and the Chinese innovators responded with a new writing system. Had the emperor not demanded this, as I found out, the Chinese language would have never developed into what we know it as today. That writing system then was able to trickle down to the non-elites in society so that they could benefit from using a better writing system. In my third essay [Artifact 3] I found out that because the U.S. government had particular interests in the communication ability of the telegraph, they invested money in its development and improvement. The very first practical test line of the telegraph was conducted with funds supplied by the U.S. government. The U.S. government represented the political elite, and without its large amount of the support, I discovered that it was very likely that the telegraph never would have been successful as a form of communication.

3. CONCLUSION

When I started researching my artifacts for this course, I made the mistake of thinking I would discover how drastically different cultures were as they relate to information technology. Using ePortfolio for my artifacts enabled me to reflect upon and make such connections between vastly different societies and cultures. I was shocked to find out that in many respects, cultures are very similar when it comes to developing information technology. The aspects of convenience, reliability, and political usability are driving factors that are able to cross the boundaries of society and culture.  If a society finds something useful, they will take it and try to make it even better because they demand it to be more convenient, reliable, and politically useful. This is what makes cultures as different as the U.S. and China have something in common when it relates to the development of information technology.

References

[Artifact 1] Matthew Kenkel, “Ancient Chinese Communication”

[Artifact 2] Matthew Kenkel, “Helicopter Transportation”

[Artifact 3] Matthew Kenkel, “Telegraph Communication”