Dynamic Web Application (DWA) Assignment
A brief summary on an article called "Radio's Lessons for the Internet" by Eszter Hargittai.
The radio and the Internet share important similarities
although the radio was invented nearly a century before the Internet. The
similarities these two inventions share are governments were behind their
origins. The government provided the funding as well as the environment to
expand to be used by the public. Both started out as personal communication
mediums where only selected groups are allowed to utilize them.
Previously, the radio was mostly used as a one-to-one
communication tool between hobbyists or enthusiasts who have sound knowledge in
radios. This isolated the public and organizations. All this changed when the
terrible tragedy, the Titanic happened. Apparently, there was a ship close
enough to rescue the passengers but were unable to do so as the radio was turned
off. Radio signals for help to the shore was mixed up with other radio messages
by hobbyists. This caused the government to evaluate the control of radios.
Finally, it was decided that organizations be formed to handle the matters
pertaining to radio messages. Total control was also taken by the military
during World War 1, banning hobbyists from using radios.
The Internet was also created for specific audience. The
government sponsored researched into a networked communication using computers.
Although the Internet faced some problems during its infancy to be opened to the
public, the trend caught on when graphical browsers came into play. This changed
the cold participation companies such as Microsoft into full scale
participation. There is a call for control of content on the Internet as well as
one true governing body but this has not fully materialized. The road in which
the radio broadcasting has taken is slowly being followed by the Internet.
What lies for the future of Internet content? Nobody knows.
The parties involved behind the Internet's growth would do well to learn the
lessons of the radio in order to be truly a free and democratic information
medium.