Our Shrinking World (1946)

Our Shrinking World, a short film from Young America Films Incorporated, discusses how the transition of technology has made the world seem less expansive than before.  Spanning back to the wheel, this short film covers many technologies that have allowed human interconnections to exist across the globe.  Our Shrinking World is important to the generations of today because it shows the coexistence of technologies, which is commonly forgotten, along with the theme of global interconnectivity due to the raise of technologies.

In this video, technologies from different eras were shown thriving together.  Although forgotten, there is often a transition period between the popularity of technologies.  This period of coexistence is depicted throughout the short.  For example, after the invention of the car, it wasn't uncommon to see both horse and car in major cities.  Although horses faded out of popularity, they are still used for transportation today.  Also, the invention of the car did not end trains but allowed travelers an alternative mode of transportation.  The movie also shows that old technologies have become a part of the new ones.  The wheel is an essential part of a cart, train, or car.  Another example is the gasoline engine.  Originally invented for the car, the gasoline engine also helped to power the airplane.  Society today shares this trait of coexisting technologies.  Many consumers use phones along with the Internet to communicate with people.  Also, the transpiration technologies mentioned in this film are still in use today.

The world was not only shrinking due to the transportation technologies but also due to the communication technologies.  With the invention of the telegraph, people could communicate across the country.  The telegraph gave way to the telephone.  These communication technologies let humanity communicate on a global scale.  People no longer needed to write letters and wait for a ship or a plane to travel across the ocean.   Thanks to the communication and transportation technologies, there was no longer a restraint of distance to stop connections between people.  This is similar to the Internet today.  People can be connected almost instantly, making it seem as though this is our shrinking world.

Our Shrinking World reminds the generations of today that technologies of the past can thrive along with the present in order to create shorter distance between people.  It is with the remembrance of these technologies that humanity will pioneer the future.

The Nation at your Fingertips (1951)

In the short film The Nation at your Fingertips, the narrator discusses the importance of the use of the telephone to society as a whole. It uses the city of Englewood as a case study, as the residents there have telephone use and use it as an integral part of their society, and are about to become (at the time of the film) an experimental case in the start of the use of long-distance calling by consumers. To frame the importance of this development, the narrator recounts the history of telephone use in the United States and how important it has become to many people for social and economic connections that would not be possible without it.

One reason that this film is relevant and informative to a 21st century class about the information society is that its overall point holds true today. The connection of people with the help of communication technology is very important to the way society runs today. The film states that the telephone "filled a void" in human life that involved social interaction with people whenever it was needed, but you can say that about many communications technologies even today, such as text messaging, social networking, video conferencing, and so on. Because of the connections that these technologies allow us to make, we have become dependent on them, and this film's discussion of the use of the telephone shows that the way we've become dependent on the technologies today is not new to society. Communications technologies tend to be important to the overall workings of any society.

The film is also interesting to a student of the information society as it shows a lot of the behind the scenes action involved in telephone operation, such as the work of operators and the elaborate punch cards used to determine telephone billing. Though maybe simpler to understand than some of the inner workings of today's communication technology, it was interesting (at least to me) to see just how complicated it was to run this technology that we take for granted today. This gets one thinking about the background of many other types of information technology, and how our "information society" today is not just based on magical information that is beamed to us by wizards, but is very technical and complex on the back end. The fact that long-distance calling is a novel idea in the film shows how intricate the workings of communication technologies are, despite their ease of use on the user end.

Communications and Our Town (1947)

The film Communications and Our Town tells the story of a telephone service worker discussing the importance of communication with two boys whose toy airplane flew into a telephone wire. The worker asks the boys if they know what "communication" means; ones replies with "talking to other people." The man claims he's "right in a way," but that there are numerous facets of communication that link different areas, which he then explains to them through demonstrations and explanation.

This video is definitely relevant to LIS 201 because it emphasizes the importance and majesty of communication through different mediums, notably the telephone, and for different purposes. A critical part of our world, the telephone enables dialogue between people that normally would not be able to interact. Regardless of the context of conversation, the mere existence of such a device has led the way to more technological strides.

While the telephone is an antiquated technology form when compared to the marvels of our digital era, the premise of the phone still holds importance in 2013. Human beings are not always able to communicate easily and face-to-face, therefore it is essential that new forms of technology bridge the gap. Due to these technological advances and realizations, we now have FaceTime, text messaging, email, and other forms of efficient, easily accessible media that have all stemmed from the invention and spread of the telephone.

The Far Sound (1973)

      The short film The Far Sound focuses on Alexander Graham Bell's invention of the telephone and the ways in which this everyday device has evolved in purpose and functionality throughout history. Telephone translates into "far sound," as distance used to determine how clear people could hear each other while talking over the telephone. To solve this transmission problem, Dr. Lee de Forest invented the vacuum tube. Another problem occurred with clarity in one's voice; to fix this problem, Harold Black invented a "negative feedback amplifier" which involved revolutionary circuitry to cancel out various distortions in peoples' voices. In the laboratories from which Forest and Black worked, Bell Laboratories, many other telecommunication devices were invented. Such inventions include electrical recording, the technology to provide movies with sound, broadcasting radio, and ship-to shore and long-distance communication technologies. The short film also discusses the purposes of microwave purposes.

     With such a focus on evolving telecommunication technologies, the film brings about many topics from LIS 201. The narrator in the film even describes Bell's tradition as a process to "find new and better ways." Communication technologies are ever-changing. When this movie was made, scientists were experimenting with various electrical signal devices, resulting in the invention of the transistor which, in turn, made the computer a reality. Likewise, even today, technological innovators are searching for ways to make communication more efficient. There are many similarities in the work described in The Far Sound with the work being done at companies like Apple and Microsoft. One thing remains clear: the curiosity for and creation of new telecommunication technologies is an ongoing process that has been prominent ever since Bell's invention of the telephone.

    Students can relate to The Far Sound as our modern society has a heavy focus on information literacy. Scientists that invent communication technologies must have an awareness of the needs in society as well as an appreciation for more convenient and accesible gadgets. Therefore, it is important for scientists to develop these attitudes early on, more specifically in the college classroom. Students can identify the errors in technology as they use many forms of it every single day. Their integration into an more modern communication infrastructure will be easy as long as they are up to date with their technological devices. The narrator in the movie seemed hopeful for the future and even discussed the possibility of a color picture phone. Clearly, the constant desire for change and improvement in telecommunications can make dreams into a reality.

Story Without End

The 1950 film Story Without End discusses how two people were able to communicate by telephone in the early days of telecommunication. It shows all of the physical wires and people that made it possible. This film demonstrated the complex system that makes talking on the phone possible. It is important to acknowledge the physical infrastructure of this system that many people take for granted today.

The Story Without End starts by suggesting the future lies in the developments in telecommunications, and it focuses on the materials used to make long distance calls. It goes on to talk about the innovations that have allowed for these types of calls, and it stresses the grandiose nature of the business. The purpose seems to be to show the importance of the business for the future, and it even mentions that it will "grow familiar to every hand." This film suggests ability to make long distance calls will connect every city across the country.

It allows the modern telephone user to reflect on the growth of the business in the last half a century, and it shows the visions that these businessmen had for the industry. Additionally, it shows how much has changed in the physical processes of making a phone call. It used to take many different phone operators to make physical connections that allowed one to call someone else a few hundred miles away. Nowadays it is possible to make a call across the world without this lengthy process of waiting for several operators to connect you to this other person. The title also demonstrates the endless improvements in the telephone services and the opportunities for growth that lie in the future.

Telephone and Telegraph (1946)

The film, Telephone and Telegraph shows the development of communication services in the last century. It shows the change from crude, physical labor to a more effective system with high-tech machinery. The film also focuses on the ways in which people can get involved and the many career opportunities involving these new technologies. The film shows the importance of modifying technologies and the need for human involvement in order to make life more efficient.

Telephone and Telegraph begins by showing how communication has changed since the invention of the telegraph. It emphasizes the importance of finding ways to improve technology and communication between people. Although many people are opposed to change, the film highlights how new technologies can improve our lives. It helps to show students that still today, it is important to look for ways to develop on what we already have.

The film also promotes the education of technology and the job opportunities that can follow. Many people believe that these machines are taking the jobs of those who used to be involved in the industry, but this is not true. The new technologies have created many new jobs in maintaining and developing the industry. These jobs can interest people from many different fields of interest. Many of these jobs offer their employees different levels of work and the opportunity to move up in position. This film can help students today realize the ways they can get involved in many communication industries that they are already familiar with and interested in. it is important for students to recognize the collaboration that is necessary between machines and humans.   

Long Distance (1941)

For this assignment, I watched the short film Long Distance, which looks into the development, use, and scale of the telephone at the time, namely long distance calls. Beyond that, it compares the expansion of the long-distance telephone line to the expansion of America itself.

What this film can show us is the romanticism we will often find with the new technologies being introduced in our present and our future. The film quickly stops only discussing how a long-distance phone call works and instead delves into the history of the nation's expansion, as if to compare the two as equals. This becomes fairly obvious as you learn that the film was sponsored by AT&T. It shows us how a technology we take so much for granted was once a new and amazing idea that would even be thought of as magic (No, really, the narrator refers to broadcasting stations as "houses of magic").

This film can teach and remind us about the constantly evolving state of technology and communication. Just as new means of communication bring awe and wonder to those in the past, we know how they will become commonplace and even replaced with time. It also serves to remind us of the involvement of corporations in the evolution of communication technology, as those who own or are invested in the infrastructure will work to play up this image for publicity and sales. The information society is built by one group, used by another, and publicized by yet another.