Marshall_CIS270WX-01_Writing#2_Draft

Nick Marshall

MAJ Sook Ha

CIS-270WX-01

March 14, 2016

The invention of the airplane marked an important point in the history of mankind and the communication of information technology. While simple messages could be transferred quickly at that point in history through the usage of telegraphs and telephones, invented some years before, air mail allowed for the rapid dissemination of physical media like letters and packages. This also opened up newer, faster communication options to sections of the world which may have been informationally isolated due to their lack of telegraph or telephone connectivity.

The interest in sending information via airmail was sparked immediately upon the first successful flights performed in 1903. The first experimental airmail flights came in the year 1911. Most notably, the United States Post Office Department had its first major test flights in New York during the week of September 23, 1911 through September 30, 1911 (Keogh). Earl L. Ovington was appointed as an “air mail carrier” and covered a route that flew between two points in the state of New York. Ovington dropped packages at the latter of the two points and a postmaster would collect them. During the week Ovington flew his route, tens of thousands of postcards along with several thousands of letters and circulars were delivered (Keogh). The results of the experiment proved to be more than satisfactory to the Post Office Department and, after several similar experiments were carried out in the same year, it was decided that the airplane would be a more than viable improvement on mail transportation and information dissemination.

Under these pretenses, the Post Office Department made several requests to Congress in 1912 for funds to start a formal service. After initially denying several requests, Congress approved funds for the foundation of an airplane service in 1916 (Keogh). The World Wars on the horizon at this time would prove to be a valuable asset in affirming the usefulness of airplanes for the mail service. Planes were used as fighting assets during both wars. If they could achieve fill this role, there was little doubt left in many people’s minds that they could be tasked with safely delivering mail and cargo shipments. Congress allotted even more money toward the service in 1918 when they granted $100,000 to be used in the establishment of the first experimental air mail route (Cleveland, 1). The Post Office Department established this route on May 15, 1918, marking it as an important date in the history of aviation and mail delivery services. The route was established between New York and Washington, DC (Cleveland, 1). The frequency of service ended up being a single round trip per day over the 218 mile span of the route (Keogh).

Perhaps most impressively, the pilots who flew the route had no navigation aids, instruments, or radios. The pilots made all of their trips via dead reckoning techniques. Forced landings were frequent but fatalities on the route were not (Cleveland, 1). In fact, the route was so successful that the Post Office Department immediately began creating a route that would bring the airmail service from New York to San Francisco, marking the first transcontinental airmail deliveries. By June 1^st of the same year, the route was already in the works (Cleveland, 1).

The transcontinental route was accomplished by transporting mail from New York to Cleveland and then from Cleveland to Chicago. This leg of the route was completed in 1919 (Cleveland, 1). The next year another leg of the route was opened from Chicago to Omaha, with several feeder routes. The final segment, linking both ends of the continent via airmail, was completed in May of 1920. This finalized the route which allowed mail to be even more rapidly transported from New York to San Francisco (Cleveland, 2).

After some routes began to be shut down with the purpose of economizing expenditures, the Post Office Department further demonstrated the many possibilities of airmail by making a through flight from San Francisco to New York. This monumental flight took a total of approximately 33 hours to complete, with 25 of those hours being spent in actual flight (Keogh).

[More stuff about airmail, relating it to modern delivery systems]

The efforts of the Post Office Department, aided by the United States Congress helped bring the US postal service into modernity. Airmail has proved to be the most rapid form of physical mail transportation thusfar, as evidenced by its persistence into the present day. Being eclipsed only by the advent of the internet and email, airmail is still one of our most important information delivery systems in the United States and around the world. It vastly improved cultures through its ability to connect and facilitate efficient communication.

Works Cited

Cleveland, Reginald M. “Airmail.” Sci Am Scientific American 150.6 (1934): 290-91. USPS. Web. <https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/airmail.pdf>.

Keogh, Edward A. “Airmail Pioneers: A Brief History.” Airmail Pioneers: A Brief History. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2016. <http://www.airmailpioneers.org/content/Sagahistory.htm>.

Radio Paper_Final

Nick Marshall

MAJ Sook Ha

CIS-270-WX

FEB 09 2016

The radio was a major stepping stone in facilitating widespread, mass communication among humans. The history of radio wave communication dates back to the late 19^th century when Guglielmo Marconi is credited with its invention. One year after acquiring his wireless telegraphy patent in England, the American inventor Nikolai Tesla acquired a similar patent in the United States granting him a patent on the basic radio communication devices (Wood, “History of the Radio: From Inception to Modern Day”). This presented some early controversy regarding who deserved the title of the inventor of the radio. History largely gives credit to Marconi for the invention, however Tesla’s early demonstration of radio communication in St. Louis, Missouri similarly cements him as an integral component to the radio’s early success (Wyman, “The History of Communication Technology: Radio”). Ever since the late 19^th century rivalry between Marconi and Tesla, radio communication has remained an integral part of how society communicates and disseminates information over wide areas that were previously unheard of.  Its popularity and practicality fixed it as one of the most important unwritten communication methods of 20^th and 21^st century societies.

Prior to the World Wars, radio communication was largely limited to enabling communication with maritime vessels out at sea. If an emergency happened at sea, radio communications allowed for those on land to send aid wherever necessary (Wood). These early incarnations of radio communications did not incorporate vocal communication. Instead, all messages were sent as a Morse code which could be deciphered by the receiving end user. With an era of wars on the horizon for significant portions of the global community, the applications of radio communications began to shift even more. Radio communications adapted to serve as a tool for military forces to communicate with their troops on the ground. This was especially apparent in World Wars I and II (Wyman). But perhaps more importantly, radio communications gained their foothold as a go-to method of quickly getting information to the general public with the help of news outlets and journalists (Wood). Radios were becoming more commonplace in the American household, especially following widespread television production shutdowns around the time of World War II (“Early Electronic Television: Television During World War Two).

At this point in the history of the radio, we begin to see a shift toward what we would consider to be the ‘modern’ radio (Wyman). What this encompasses is the transformation from radio’s usage as a strictly wartime communication method be a more entertainment focused medium. The situation had changed, which required the applications of the technology to change. Following the era of World Wars, commercial radio stations had gained popularity. Notable stations included the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) in Great Britain and KDKA (founded by Westinghouse) in the United States (Wyman). The time period following the wars allowed these radio stations to fill the airwaves with more positive expressions of cultures. Popular mid-20^th century radio broadcasts often included music, dramatic renditions of plays, discussions, and sports highlights (Wyman). More radio stations cropped up around the globe as the trend began to take off. As an entertainment medium, radio’s popularity further skyrocketed, along with the revenues of the companies facilitating the broadcasts. Popularity of radio broadcasts became so apparent that people began making their own receivers. To curb this issue, which was interfering with the market, the American government stepped in to sanction an agreement known as the Radio Corporation Agreements (RCA), which allowed for better management of patents on radio transmitters and receivers (Wyman). It was around this time period that radio advertising also became a popular method of collecting money for the effort put in by the stations. Revenue was accumulated by promoting goods and services. In Britain, government funding eventually overtook commercial advertising as a primary means of funding stations. In the United States, however, preference was given to commercials over government control of the radio (“The Early History of Radio”). Small instances like these illustrate the importance of radio to the evolving culture and economy of 20^th century societies.

New music genres like Rock and Roll in the mid-20^th century finally solidified radio’s form as what we think of today. Plays, discussions, sports, serial programming, and other radio broadcasts maintained popularity but largely took a backseat to the overwhelming popularity of musical broadcasts. At this point in history we mark the emergence of continuous back-to-back musical broadcasts, top 40 stations, and entirely new music genres catering to these changes. Music and radio became synonymous (Wood). We also begin to see FM radio overtake the dated AM stations. What we can derive from this information is that the mid-century evolution of radio reflected a larger cultural shift in the Americas and Europe. Around this time, we begin to see the beginnings of youth culture with entertainment targeted toward families, teens, and young adults (Wood). Furthermore, it reflected a growing Western middle class that was not evidently present when radio was a new technology. The radio was one of many mediums that spread and disseminated the culture (Wyman).

Radio communications was present for a significant portion of the cultural changes that shape contemporary western society. We can also assert that radio was, at least in no small part, responsible for facilitating these changes which offer a hard contrast to the culture that defined western society when radio was relatively new. Radio communications was an unwritten communication method that shaped a significant portion of 20^th century societies. It allowed for cities to communicate over vast distances in record amounts of time and has evolved from a more simplistic Morse code to a sophisticated sonic entertainment platform. Radio communications embody multiple aspects of what many might perceive as the ideal form of unwritten communication among civilizations.

Works Cited

“Early Electronic Television.” Television During World War Two. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2016. <http://www.earlytelevision.org/ww2_history.html>.

“The Early History of Radio.” The Early History of Radio. N.p., 1 Apr. 2013. Web. 09 Feb. 2016. <http://www.cybercollege.com/frtv/frtv016.htm>.

Wood, Joe. “History of the Radio: From Inception to Modern Day.” Tech Wholesale. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2016. <http://www.techwholesale.com/history-of-the-radio.html>.

Wyman, Logan. “The History of Communication Technology: Radio.” The History of the Radio. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2016. <http://www.personal.psu.edu/jtk187/art2/radio.htm>.