EVOLUTION OF MEDIA

The Prehistoric/ Pre-Industrial Age : (1500

BC – 1500 AD)
 Prehistory is the period of human activity between the use of
the first stone tools ~3.3 million years ago and the invention of
writing systems, the earliest of which appeared ~5300 years
ago.Technology that predates recorded history. History is the
study of the past using written records; it is also the record
itself. Anything prior to the first written accounts of history
is prehistoric (meaning "before history"), including earlier
technologies. About 2.5 million years before writing was
developed, technology began with the earliest hominids who
used stone tools, which they may have used to start fires, hunt,
cut food, and bury their dead.
 People discovered fire, developed paper from plants, and
forged weapons and tools with stone, bronze, copper and
iron.
 • Cave paintings (35,000 BC)
 • Clay tablets in Mesopotamia (2400 BC)
 • Papyrus in Egypt (2500 BC)
 • Acta Diurna in Rome (130 BC)
 • Dibao in China (2nd Century)
 • Codex in the Mayan region (5th Century)
 • Printing press using wood blocks (220 AD)
EXAMPLES OF PREHISTORIC DEVICES
Industrial Age : (1700s-1930s)

 The Industrial Age is a period of history that

encompasses the changes in economic and social
organization that began around 1760 in Great
Britain and later in other countries, characterized
chiefly by the replacement of hand tools with
power-driven machines such as the power loom and
the steam engine, and by the concentration of
industry in large establishments.
 People used the power of steam,
developed machine tools,
established iron production, and
the manufacturing of various
products (including books through
the printing press).
 • Printing press for mass production (19th century)
 • Newspaper- The London Gazette (1640)
 • Typewriter (1800)Telephone (1876)
 • Motion picture photography/projection (1890)
 • Commercial motion pictures (1913)
 • Motion picture with sound (1926)
 • Telegraph
 • Punch cards
EXAMPLES OF INDUSTRIAL DEVICES
The Electronic Age: (1930s – 1980s)

 The Electronic age is the invention of the transistor

ushered in the electronic age.
 People harnessed the power of transistors that led
to the transistor radio, electronic circuits, and the
early computers. In this age, long distance
communication became more efficient.
 • Transistor Radio
 • Television (1941)
 • Large electronic computers- i.e. EDSAC (1949) and
UNIVAC 1 (1951)
 • Mainframe computers - i.e. IBM 704 (1960)
 • Personal computers - i.e. HewlettPackard 9100A
(1968), Apple 1 (1976)
 • OHP, LCD projectors
EXAMPLES OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES
INFORMATION AGE (1900s-2000s)

 Digital Age or Informational Age is a period in

human history characterized by the shift from
traditional industry that the Industrial Revolution
brought through industrialization, to an economy
based on information computerization. The Internet
paved the way for faster communication and the
creation of the social network. People advanced
the used of microelectronics with the invention of
personal computers, devices wearable technology.
Moreover, voice, image, sounds, and data are
digitalized.
 • Web browsers: Mosaic (1993), Internet Explorer (1995)
 • Blogs: Blogspot (1999), LiveJournal (1999), Wordpress
(2003)
 • Social networks: Friendster (2002), Multiply (2003),
Facebook (2004)
 • Microblogs: Twitter (2006), Tumblr (2007)
 • Video: YouTube (2005)
 • Augmented Reality / Virtual Reality
 • Video chat: Skype (2003), Google Hangouts
(2013)
 • Search Engines: Google (1996), Yahoo (1995)
 • Portable computers- laptops (1980), netbooks
(2008), tablets (1993)
 • Smart phones
 • Wearable technology
 • Cloud and Big Data
EXAMPLES OF DIGITAL DEVICES
Age What format/ What format/ What format/
equipment did equipment did equipment did
people use to people use to people use to
communicate store share or
with each other? information? broadcast
information?

Pre-Industrial Age
Industrial Age
Electronic Age
Information Age
Roles and functions of media in a
democratic society :

 Channel - provides
opportunities for people to
communicate, share ideas,
speculate, tell stories and give
information
 Watchdog - exposes corrupt
practices of the government and the
private sector. Creating a space
wherein governance is challenged or
scrutinized by the governed. It also
guarantees free and fair elections
 Resource center - acts as a gateway
of information for the society’s
consumption. Also, it becomes a
keeper of memories of the
community, preserver of heritage and
source of academic knowledge.
Advocate - through its


diverse sources or formats,

it bridges the gap of
digital divide.