The Development of Television

The latest lesson on mediums and the way they impact our everyday society and methods of communication is indeed an interesting one. In regards to my particular passion, which is of the motion picture (television and movies), nothing could be more applicable than the social constructivist view of technology along with technological determinism. Before the television, came to be, we as a society primarily relied on oral narratives and the written word to communicate. Advertising was relegated primarily to print and radio. When the television came to the scene in the late 1920’s, society as we know it essentially changed.

A media or medium, as defined by our class slides, can be articulated as “a storage and transmission channel” and “a place in which something is cultured and grows”. Television and the motion picture fit this definition to a T. Television allows for the transmission of pictures and works to mass audiences, millions upon millions. Like the cell phone, telegraph and other mediums, television is instantaneous, and eliminates geographic boundaries. Now, the two theories of social construction of technology & technological determinism are interesting to analyze when put against the advent of the television. For one, the television was strongly influenced by the “culture, politics, economic arrangements, regulatory mechanisms” and so forth of its times; this has changed as society has progressed. For example, in the early 1920’s, society in general was far more conservative than it is for today. For example, pornography or violence played on television would not only lead to massive fines, condemnation, but most jail time as a result of an obscenity charge, which were frequent in the early 1920s. Today, for example, certain liberal countries play on regular television channels with a specific motion picture rating system for suitability to different audience. Television was heavily utilized to rally various populations for war efforts, notably World War 2. The list of cultural aspiration is innumerate. 

The advent of the television also overlaps rather perfectly with technological determinism: the television has transformed our lives. Case in point: before the 1920s, movies were a rarity that only the wealthy could view and enjoy. The news was relegated to print and radio. Then comes the television, and every living room in America, Canada, Britain and beyond now magically has round the clock access to movies, news, television shows, the weather, and so forth. In a sense, it was a medieval computer, one that lacked the interactivity and on-demand capabilities that today’s modern technological devices have.

 Both theories can are valid when it comes to the analysis of the television. The television was necessitated and invented by society, and it has consequently shaped society. Television show, ‘mass culture’, movies, breaking news, television celebrities, documentaries—these were all popularized by the television. Perhaps the most important feature of television has been its ability to bring us closer to other humans and the emotion of the human psyche, the ability for millions to observe the facial expressions, the gestures, and the raw nature of the human emotion, in addition to the vocal narrative. Perhaps the most powerful and awesome example of this was the televising of the moon landing—allowing humans to observe other humans on another planet.

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