Hive Mind: How Technology Connects the World

Hive Mind.mp3
Ashley Barre
Jacob Light
Purpose/Hook:
Society is always coming up with new ideas and innovations to combat basic struggles.
Two particular issues we tend to focus on, however, are communication and the
sharing/gathering of information. We want people to understand how innovators have
continuously worked to simplify these two issues and how electronic technology has
helped us make the greatest leaps in information sharing and near-seamless
communication. We want people to understand the significance of technologies such as
radio and television in connecting the world and how they culminated in the creation of
the Internet, which revolutionized the field of technology more than any other
communication-based innovation. We dont want people to ignore or take for granted the
progress society has made in getting connected; we want them to see that progress and
get excited for what lies ahead.
Format:
Podcasting is a powerful tool that allows anyone in the world to record his or her voice
and publish it on the Internet instantly where it becomes easily accessible to everyone
that has Internet access. Podcasts are similar to blogs in that way, but they are a more
convenient way to relay information to an audience because listening to a podcast is just
as easy as listening to the radio. Likewise, listening to a podcast is a more engaging way
for someone to gain information on a subject versus reading about it on a blog. Our
podcast takes the form of a host show, with the two of us going back and forth, directly
teaching our viewers about the history of electronic technology as it pertains to
communication and information sharing.
Keywords:
Internet, Paper, Accessibility, Communication, Information, Telephone, Radio, Television
Writing Style:
Our writing style is done with a casual but informative conversation in mind, and we
wrote it as though it were a normal conversation. We sometimes use sentence fragments
that, while ineffective on paper, are easy on the ears and ideal for a podcast. We also keep
an upbeat tone and avoid negative wording. We also try to avoid passive voice.
Paragraph Script:
0:00-0:27: Intro
Jacob: Hello, and welcome to Hive Mind: How Technology Connects the World. Im
Jacob, here with Ashley, and were here to talk about your technology and what led to it.
We live in a world of near-instantaneous communication and access to almost any kind of

information, so how did all this technology begin? What led to it? Were here to tell you
about that.
0:28-1:30: Content - Paper and the Printing Press
Ashley: Thats right Jacob. The old saying The pen is mightier than the sword really
fits with what we are going to discuss. If it werent for the pen we wouldnt have the
technologically advanced world that we have today. Writing on its own is a form of
technology. It was a way for people to communicate for thousands of years, and it still is.
But for a long time, this form of communication was strictly personal, and there was no
way for a writer to distribute their works to the masses. All of that changed with the
printing press. This piece of machinery allowed writers to distribute their work for tons of
people to read. It began with Gutenbergs press around the year 1436, but that idea
eventually became Richard M. Hoes steam powered rotary printing press in 1843, which
could print millions of pages in a single day.1 At this time, paper was made out of old
rags. Charles Dickens found this process fascinating and wrote about it in his 1850 short
story, A Paper-Mill.2 During this time period paper was becoming cheaper and easier to
make thanks to the use of tree pulp,3 expanding the use of paper for many other things.
1:31-2:08: Content - The Telephone and the Smartphone
Jacob: Even though all this was great for things like newspapers and books, a few bright
minds over the years decided they wanted the world to communicate with sound. Several
different people tried to make what we know as the telephone, but the man who really got
that technology off the ground was Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. The telephone
allowed people to actually talk to each other from wherever they were as long as they
were at phones. Fast forward for a moment to today and we have smartphones that are
small, portable, and easy to use. They have so many different functions that people
almost dont even think of them as telephones anymore! But back to the past: This was a
great way for people to communicate personally, but at the other end of the spectrum
was2:09-2:42: Content - The Radio
Ashley: The radio. Mass media such as newspapers and the telephone had already
changed the world, but the radio was different; it could reach anyone in the world. Sure
you could call anyone in the world, but with a radio all you have to do is tune into a
station. By 1920,4 radio stations were in business and they were bringing the average
everyday American news about events around the world and broadcasting sports like
boxing and Americas pastime: Major League Baseball. The radio connected the world
like never before.
2:43-3:31: Content - The Television and Its Networks
Jacob: Radio was a great way to easily distribute audio, but television was even more
useful since it could also send video. American inventor Charles Francis Jenkins first
demonstrated televised moving silhouettes in 1923.5 There were a few spread-out
inventors all over the world who invented the television on their own, but Jenkins was the
first. During the 1940s - when television was first hitting the mainstream - there were
three major networks: ABC, CBS, and NBC. Together, these were nicknamed the Big

Three, though there were always new networks trying to take a fourth slot. The DuMont
Television Network was almost successful, but it shut down in 1956 due to a lack of
funds. Then the Fox Broadcasting Company launched in 1986 and, over a few years, it
proved that television wasnt only limited to the Big Three.6 Fox opened the door for
other networks to start their own channels and continue the spread of information. Not to
mention entertainment!
3:32-4:36: Content - The Internet and Instant Messaging
Ashley: Also occurring in the 90s was the invention of the World Wide Web leading to a
new medium of communication: instant messaging. The instant messenger, abbreviated
IM, that we all know and remember growing up was AOL Instant Messenger, or AIM for
short. AIM was released in 1997. AIM was the first of its kind allowing messengers to
chat and interact with impressive features never seen before. AIM included chat rooms
and allowed people to see when their friends were available to chat and when they were
offline as well. By 2005, AIM had 53 million profiles, which was by far more than any
other IM client. After AIM was released by AOL, many other companies followed suit by
releasing their own IM services. Yahoo released Yahoo Messenger in 1998, and Microsoft
released MSN Messenger in 1999. The IM world only improved from there. By 2003, the
game changed vastly again when Skype was released.7 Skype allowed its users not only
to message each other, but to interact through video messaging. These early services set
the foundation for text messaging, which combined the functionality of instant messaging
with the conveniency of cell phones.
4:36-5:32: Content - Recap and Search Engines
Jacob: So let me refresh you all on what weve covered so far. Over time, weve had
printing presses that let writers widely distribute their works, telephones that allow two
people at different parts of the world to talk to each other, radios that can send and
receive widespread audio, televisions that can receive widespread video, and ways to
quickly and conveniently send messages even beyond what we were already capable of.
All this has been great for sharing information and especially for communication, but
theres one more thing we need to cover: How to freely access this world full of
information. What do you usually do when you want to know something? You just look it
up on Google and oh wait, thats it! Googles all you need. And if text isnt enough for
you and you need a video of something, you just go to YouTube. Even more so than the
previous topics weve covered, search engines such as Google and YouTube have
practically become instinct for anyone who wants to know something, and theyre not
even two decades old. By this point, we take them for granted, but imagine how much
harder it would be to get information without them.
5:33-6:15: Ending
Ashley: Were running out of time but before we wrap things up I want to leave you all
something to reflect on. The world we know today is a small world because of all the
communication devices we have. Its so easy for the average person to reach someone
halfway across the globe with a phone call or e-mail. Its pretty impressive how fast
technology has grown in so little time. Some of our grandparents that were born in the
1930s or 1940s have seen so much innovation that its hard to believe any generation will

ever witness something similar. With that said though, I would not be surprised that if by
the end of my lifetime I have seen ten times as much as they did in theirs. Until next time:
Im Ashley.
Jacob: And Im Jacob.
Ashley: And we are signing off.

Annotated Bibliography
(In alphabetical order)
3

Burger, Peter. Charles Fenerty and His Paper Invention. Toronto: P. Burger, 2007. 32.
Print.
Primary source (photograph) within secondary source (book)
The audience of the letter in the photo is the Acadian Recorder, a newspaper in
Halifax. The letter was written by Charles Fenerty, who had been experimenting with
making paper out of wood pulp. He proposed the idea to cut down common forest trees
and manufacture them into paper of the finest kind, as he put it. It is unknown who
took the photo, but Fenerty himself wrote the letter, and Peter Burger put the photo in his
book about Fenerty.
The source is reliable.
We used this source to show the beginning of the mass-manufacturing of high
quality paper.
2

Charles Dickens, A Paper-Mill (Household Words, 31 August 1850), in David Pascoe

(ed.), Charles Dickens, Selected Journalism, 1850-1870, Harmondsworth: Penguin,
1997, pp.263-268.
Secondary source (short story)
The local workers in 1850 were the audience of the story. The purpose was to
walk readers through the process of how rags (and other things) are turned into paper, but
also to teach that all such ingredients, whether they come from the rich or the poor, are
indistinguishable from each other by the time theyre turned into paper. Charles Dickens
collaborated with Mark Lemon to write this story.
The source is reliable.
We used this source to mention the difficult - albeit fascinating - process of
creating paper when it was made from rags.
6

Crosby, Joan (February 26, 1969). "Fourth Network Hasn't Worked Yet". Raleigh
Register. p. 25.
Secondary source (newspaper article)
The audience consisted of readers of 1969 who were interested in the state of
television networks. The purpose was to describe the progress being made in a fourth
network competing with ABC, CBS, and NBC. The author was Joan Crosby of the
Raleigh Register.
The source is reliable.

We used this source to discuss the potential fourth majors networks (primarily the
DuMont Television Network and Fox Broadcasting Company).
1

Meggs, Philip B. (1998). A History of Graphic Design (Third ed.). John Wiley & Sons,
Inc. p. 147.
Secondary source (book)
The audience is anyone whos interested in the history of graphic design. The
purpose is to teach about the concept of the printing press and its history. The author is
Philip B. Meggs.
The source is reliable.
We used this source as a reference regarding the dates and inventors of different
iterations of the printing press.
7

Petronzio, Matt. "A Brief History of Instant Messaging." Mashable. N.p., n.d. Web. 02
Feb. 2015.
Secondary source (article)
The audience is a general one composed of people who just want to know more
information about the development and advancement of instant messaging services.
This source is reliable.
We used this source to supplement our timeline of instant messaging and the
innovation of communication in the World Wide Web.
5

"Radio Shows Far Away Objects in Motion", The New York Times, June 14, 1925, p. 1
Secondary source (newspaper article)
The audience was people in 1925, when television was a new invention. The
purpose was to inform people of this new invention and the man who introduced it to
America: Charles Francis Jenkins. The author was a writer of the New York Times.
The source is reliable.
We used this source to discuss the history of the television itself (not its
networks).
4

"The History of the Radio at a Glance including Electronics and Computers." Space
Today Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2015.
Secondary source (timeline)
The audience of this timeline is anyone who wants to learn about the history of
the radio and the impact that it has played on communication in the world. The purpose is
to present important dates relate to the radio. The author of this timeline is Space Today
Online.
The source is reliable.
We used this source to point out important innovations of the radio.

List of Sources/Sounds
AmishRob. BaseballHitAndCrowdCheer.mp3. freesound.
This sound will be used after we mention Major League Baseball.
We googled open source sound effects and freesound was the first site that
showed up. We searched baseball bat and decided this was the sound we wanted to use.
The sound is licensed under the Attribution License and is free for anyone to use.
MacLeod, Kevin. Run Amok. Incompetech.
This piece of music, composed by Kevin MacLeod, is creative and upbeat. It will
be used as the introductory music for the podcast.
We already knew about Incompetech and stumbled upon this song while looking
on the site. All music produced by MacLeod is free for anyone to use.
Sound Jay. Page Flip Sound Effect 14. Sound Jay.
When played several times and sped up, this sounds like someone flipping
through the pages of a book. It will be used as a sound effect after we discuss the impact
paper has had on sharing information.
We googled sound effect flipping pages and Sound Jay was the first site that
showed up. We listened to each individual sound (out of twenty) and decided this was the
sound we wanted to use. The creators of the sound have allowed anyone to use the sound
for any purpose as long as they dont claim it as their own.