When reading the Fischer article
for this week, a couple of things really struck me. Each of these points he made highlighted the social
influence of technology that is important to address and supports the idea of cultural determinism. One of those things was Fischer’s
statement about using the word “impact.” He says that “we do not ask what the ‘impacts’
or ‘effects’ of the telephone were. That
is the wrong language, a mechanical language that implies that human actions
are impelled by external forces when they are really the outcomes of actors
making the purposeful choices under constraints.” (Fischer 27-28) This quote
reminds me of the idea of cultural determinism that we read about last
week. It is the actors who are
responsible for the creation and use of technology and therefore the word
adopted does seem to be more appropriate.
Another part of the reading that
spoke strongly to me was the fact that not a whole lot of research has been
done on the invention of the telephone. I was especially surprised to read that
not many technologies had been studied sociologically in any depth. The
invention of the telephone was vital to how our society developed and functions.
It should have more attention paid to it. The reasons given are that the
telephone proceeded the era of social research and that few social problems
seem tied to the phone. I find the second reason hard to believe because of the
amount of time people spend on the phone. Most technologies present problems as
well as benefits from how the people use them. The issue of not being as
connected to the people local to you, as mentioned in the reading, is tied to the
phone.
The timeline of the invention and
the marketing for it are significant to the understanding how of technologies
are introduced into our culture. The
paragraph where Fischer explains that the role of the telephone unfolded after
time reminds me of the process of the internet becoming what it is today. “The
telephone began as a novelty, became business’s substitute for the telegraph
and then evolved into a mass product, an everyday device for handling chores
and having conversations.” (Fisher 23-24) People had to be persuaded to use the
technology which gives the power to the actors rather than to the technology. That
process seems very similar to how the internet unfolded and how many other
technologies have come to the attention of the public in the past.
The marketing of the telephone was
especially interesting to me because of my career path into Public Relations.
For the telephone, the phrase “educating the public” was essential in letting
the invention take off. This allowed for consumers to be instructed on how to
use the product, fostered good will towards it and created desires. The reading
tells us that Alexander Graham Bell needed to convince consumers that his “toy”
was useful. The use of the word toy to
me was unusual because of how vital the telephone is to daily life in this
time. It speaks to how technology becomes a part of our culture. It is interesting how the marketing changed
from practically (managing household affairs) to sociability (facilitating
conversations with friends and family). The shift reveals that our technologies
adapt to the society’s wants and needs.
There is a collection of
communication advertisements on this website that
show some of the Bell telephone ads from the 1930s. What do people think of them?
Does the reading we read demonstrate what these ads say? Does cultural
determinism apply to this reading?
I thought that the 1930s telephone advertisements were indicative of cultural determinism in that era, but also made me consider the shift from cultural to technological determinism that potentially occurred as people's interaction with telephone operation changed over time. The advertisements depict telephone switchboards, a very direct interaction between people and the telephone. When the telephone was in this stage of development, humans were immediately involved in the operation of the technology. I think that as the technology evolved away from the necessity of switchboards and human operators, the telephone gained more agency. Bell could incorporate switchboard operators into their advertisements because the technology was still very much intertwined with human control, whereas now, a comparable advertisement strategy would never be successful. The average person is not remotely familiar with the operation of the phone system; it has been de-humanized and as the reading suggests, the power has been relinquished to the technology. The process that occurs when we pick up the phone to make a call is largely a mystery. We trust the technology to perform essentially on its own. I think that these ads strongly evidence how the nature of our culture's interaction with a technology can shift over time as well as how remoteness can influence our collective feeling of control over technology, or lack thereof as technological determinism suggests.
ReplyDeleteThank you for replying and looking at the ads, Rachel! I agree with you that we trust the technology to perform essentially on its own without any idea of how they work. It's an issue. I hadn't thought about the shift from cultural to technological determinism that potentially occurred as people's interaction with telephone operation changed over time and I think you make a good point!
DeleteYour point about the timeline of the telephone reminded me of an advertisement I studied for Media & Society last semester. Just like persuading people to use the telephone, Apple had to convince consumers to buy their new computers. The telephone was described as "educating the public" and Apple's early advertisements tried educating the public on their new product.Apple needed to convince consumers that their computer was revolutionary, writing on the ad that "its a wise man who owns an Apple." At first, ads were wordy, full of lots of informational text, but as consumer became more familiar with the Apple brand, ads became less wordy and concentrated more on the product itself. I definitely think that Apple's marketing technique for their computer is similar to the techniques used for promoting the telephone. Consumers needed to be educated and convinced of a product. The Apple example shows how essential a educational marketing plan is for a new product. Because Apple developed its brand early on, they could pursue a more creative advertising plan. This example also represents how technology becomes a part of our culture. Today, we are surrounded by Apple products whether its an iPod, iPhone, iPad, or iMac. Without their original advertising plan, Apple may not have become the company we all know today.
ReplyDeleteHere is the link to the ad that I referred to:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6_iC0JuW_BQ/Ucq9zC_hvNI/AAAAAAAAGQI/8KVVjHezLNw/s1600/Cool%2BVintage%2BApple%2BAds%2B(4).jpg
Nora, thank you for responding! That is a great example! Consumers do needed to be educated and convinced to buy new products. I think we would find that a lot of the technologies we have today had to be marketed this way.
DeleteTo answer your question, Caroline, I think the ads definitely go along with what was discussed in the reading. The main parts that stuck out to me in the reading was whenever the authors mentioned something about trying to sell the telephone to a different group of people, such as families, housewives, farmers, or business men. The sellers of the telephone wanted to show that it was appealing to all types of people. They wanted to show that it could be used for business transactions, to plan everything for a holiday, for emergencies, and even to simply socialize with others. The desire to sell to all types of people was evident in the ads you posted. I saw ads directed towards senior citizens, female workers, army men, housewives, families, and more.
ReplyDeleteThis reading also made me think of Public Relations. I have learned from writing press releases and learning more about them that businesses must learn how to advertise and who to advertise to. As mentioned in the reading, telephone sellers had originally only focused on selling telephones to select groups of people, such as business men for work related tasks. They realized over time that they had to change their advertising methods to show the social perks of the telephone since that’s what people were becoming interested in. This allowed them to sell more telephones since people wanted an easy way to socialize with others, and it allowed them to sell more to different types of people than just business men.
I definitely think this reading goes along with the idea of cultural determinism. As time went on, I think the creators of these ads began to pick up on the fact that there was a desire for all types of people to socialize with others. The telephone did not make people this way, people have always wanted to be this way.
Thanks for replying, Jordan! I agree with you about the ads, having a target audience is important in having a successful marketing of your product. The last sentence you write, "The telephone did not make people this way, people have always wanted to be this way" is true, the telephone allowed people to be this way.
Delete