Information and Communications Technology Today: Development and

Commonly used Tools

INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

- REFERS TO THE TECHNOLOGIES, BOTH HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE, THAT
ENABLE HUMANS TO COMMUNICATE WITH ONE ANOTHER.

EVOLUTION OF ICT
- THE BEGINNING OF ICT CAN BE TRACED BACK WHEN HUMANS USED
OBJECTS TO COMMUNICATE WITH ONE ANOTHER.

FOUR MAIN PERIODS OF ICT DEVELOPMENT:

 PREMECHANICAL
 MECHANICAL
 ELECTROMECHANICAL
 ELECTRONIC

PREMECHANICAL

- AROUND 3000 BCE TO 1450 CE.

- DURING THIS TIME, HUMANS STARTED COMMUNICATING WITH ONE
ANOTHER BY USING WORDS AND PICTOGRAMS CARVED IN ROCKS.

PICTOGRAMS
- SYMBOLS CARVED IN ROCKS THAT SERVES AS THE SUBSTITUTE FOR PICTURES
TO DEPICT IDEAS, OBJECTS AND ANIMALS.

STONE TABLETS
- AN OBJECT WHERE EARLY HUMANS WROTE THEIR INFORMATION.

TIME PASSED AND EARLY HUMANS REALIZED THAT STONE TABLETS ARE TOO
HEAVY AND BULKY. THE INFORMATION TO BE STORED WAS GROWING AND WAS
BECOMING ENORMOUS AND WRITING THESE PIECES OF INFORMATION IN STONE
TABLES WAS IMPRACTICAL.

WHEN PAPER WAS FINALLY PRODUCED FROM PAPYRUS PLANT, STORING OF

INFORMATION WAS REVOLUTIONIZED.

HUMANS CONTINUED TO WRITE INFORMATION THAT CAN BE ORGANIZED IN

SOME MANNER AND KEPT AS PERMANENT RECORD. THEY EVENTUALLY COMPILED
THESE RECORDS WRITTEN ON PIECES OF PAPER AND BOUND THEM TOGETHER,
EVENTUALLY GIVING BIRTH TO BOOKS.
AS THESE BOOKS GREW IN NUMBER, THEY NEEDED CURVED IN ROCKS.O BE
COMPILED AND STORED IN AREAS; HENCE LIBRARIES WERE CREATED.

LIBRARIES
- CONSIDERED TO BE THE FIRST DATA CENTERS IN HISTORY.

IN THE LATE STAGES OF THIS PERIOD, HUMANS STARTED USING THE NUMERICAL
SYSTEM.THIS NUMERICAL SYSTEM SPREAD AROUND THE WORLD GRADUALLY,
ENABLING SIMPLER, FASTER, AND MORE ORGANIZED WAY TO COUNT.IN THIS
PERIOD, HUMANS STARTED TO OPTIMIZE AND INVENT DEVICES AND TECHNIQUES
IN COUNTING.

ABACUS
- THE MOST POPULAR DEVICE CREATED IN THIS PERIOD.
- SAID TO HAVE COME FROM CHINA.
- A MANUALLY OPERATED DEVICE SIMILAR TO THE MODERN CALCULATOR.
- CONSIDERED AS THE FIRST DEVICE TO PROCESS INFORMATION.

MECHANICAL PERIOD
- STARTED AROUND 1450 – 1840.
- SERVED AS THE BRIDGE BETWEEN CURRENT AND THE PREMECHANICAL
PERIOD.
- THIS PERIOD CONCENTRATED PRIMARILY ON DEVELOPMENT OF MACHINES
THAT WILL ENHANCE CALCULATION SPEED.
- THE HIGHLIGHT OF THIS PERIOD IS THE ADVENT OF THE MECHANICAL
CALCULATOR CALLED THE PASCALINE.

PASCALINE
- ALSO CALLED ARITHMETIC MACHINE, THE FIRST CALCULATOR OR ADDING
MACHINE TO BE PRODUCED IN ANY QUANTITY AND ACTUALLY USED.
THE PASCALINE WAS DESIGNED AND BUILT BY THE FRENCH
MATHEMATICIAN-PHILOSOPHER BLAISE PASCAL ALONG WITH WILHELM
SCHICKARD BETWEEN 1642 AND 1644.

THIS DEVICE INSPIRED OTHER INVENTORS TO AUTOMATE COUNTING AND

CALCULATIONS.ONE OF THESE INVENTORS WAS CHARLES BABBAGE, A
MATHEMATICIAN. HE INVENTED THE ANALYTICAL ENGINEM WHICH WAS
CONSIDERED THE FIRST PROGRAMMABLE MECHANICAL COMPUTER. THIS
INVENTION EARNED BABBAGE THE TITLE “FATHER OR COMPUTERS.”

THE ELECTROMECHANICAL PERIOD

- STARTED AROUND 1840 – 1940.
- THE USE OF ELECTRICITY FOR INFORMATION HANDLING AND TRASFER
BLOOMED.
- THIS PERIOD SAW THE USE OF THE TELEGRAPH TO TRANSMIT INFORMATION
OVER LONG DISTANCES.
- THE INFORMATION IS CODED IN SOUNDS OF DOTS, SPACES, AND DASHES O
VER WIRED (AND EVENTUALLY WIRELESS) MEDIA.

IN THIS PERIOD, HUMANS STARTED TO CONTROL ELECTRICITY USING VACUUM

TUBES IN DEVICES THAT EVENTUALLY LED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF TODAY’S
ELECTRONIC GADGETS.

VACUUM TUBE
- AN ELECTRON TUBE CONTAINING A NEAR-VACUUM THAT ALLOWS THE FREE
PASSAGE OF ELECTRIC CURRENT.

TELEGRAPH
- CONSIDERED AS THE FIRST ELECTRICAL COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE. IT IS THE
FIRST DEVICE TO USE ELECTRICITY TO TRANSMIT INFORMATION OVER AN
ELECTRICAL MEDIA.
 - INVENTED IN 1837 BY WILLIAM COOKE AND SIR CHARLES WHEATSTONE.
- THE FIRST MODEL USED SETS OF LETTERS AND NUMBERS BY USING ELECTRIC
CURRENT.

IN 1844, AN AMERICAN INVENTOR NAMED SAMUEL MORSE SUCCESFULLY

INTRODUCED THE FIRST SINGLE-CIRCUIT TELEGRAPH, WHICH GAVE RISE TO THE
MORSE CODE.

MORSE CODE
- A METHOD OF TRANSMITTING TEXT INFORMATION AS A SERIES OF ON-OFF
TONES, LIGHTS, OR CLICKS THAT CAN BE DIRECTLY UNDERSTOOD BY A
SKILLED LISTENER OR OBSERVER WITHOUT SPECIAL EQUIPMENT. IT IS NAMED
FOR SAMUEL F. B. MORSE, THE INVENTOR OF THE TELEGRAPH.

HOWEVER, HUMANS WERE NOT SATISFIED WITH SIMPLY TRANSMITTING SYMBOLS

OR LETTER OVER LONG DISTANCES; THEY BECAME FASCINATED WITH THE IDEA OF
VOICE TRANSMISSION.

ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL

- WAS GRANTED AS THE INVENTOR OF THE TELEPHONE IN 1876.

TELEPHONE
- CONVERTS SOUNDS INTO ELECTRICITY AND ENABLES THE TELEPHONE
NETWORK TO TRANSMIT OVER COPPER WIRES.
- COMES FROM THE GREEK WORD “TÊLE” WHICH MEANS “DISTANCE” AND
“PHŌNḗ” WHICH MEANS “SOUND”.

AT THIS TIME, COMPUTING DEVICES ALSO STARTED TO REVOLUTIONIZE

INFORMATION HANDLING AND PROCESSING. MACHINES WERE MECHANICAL IN
NATURE BUT WERE RUN BY ELECTRICITY. THESE MACHINES WERE INTENTED TO
ENCODE AND TRANSMIT INFORMATION OVER TELEGRAPH LINES. THEY WERE USES
IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR TO AVOID INFORMATION BEING INTERCEPTED BY
THE ENEMY. THESE DEVICES WERE SLOW AND BULKY BECAUSE OF THEIR INTERNAL
MECHANICAL COMPONENTS. THE MACHINE USED GEARS, LEVERS, VACUUM
TUBES, RELAYS, AND FOR PROCESSING AND CALCUALTIONS.
This is a code listening tool. Print it on your printer.
Place your pencil where it says START and listen to morse code.
Move down and to the right every time you hear a DIT (a dot).
Move down and to the left every time you hear a DAH (a dash).
Here's an example: You hear DAH DIT DIT which is a dash then dot then dot.
You start at START and hear a DAH then move down and left to the T and then
you hear a DIT so you move down and RIGHT to the N and then you hear another
DIT so you move DOWN and RIGHT again and land on the D
You then write down the letter D on your code copy paper and jump back to
START waiting for your next letter.
The key to learning the code is hearing it and comprehending it while you
hear it.
The only way to get there is to practice 10 minutes a day.
Listen to code tapes or computer practice code while tracing out this chart
and you will find yourself writing down the letters in no time at all without
the aid of the chart.
The chart brings repetition together with recognition, which you don't get
from any other type of code practice aid.