Week four: The Great Divide

The invention of electricity can be seen to be the most influential technological advancement on society and its ability to communicate effectively (Costigan 2015, p. 1). Before electricity, the medium for communicating was solely based on how fast the message could travel, as in boat, horse or on foot. This slow form of communication was what drove human beings to search for a more effective way in communicating over large distances in short amounts of time. Smoke signals and the semaphore system eventuated in a more effective way to communicate as this could be performed instantly as well as over vast distances (Costigan 2015, p. 1).

During the 1840’s, another technological advancement was developed and rapidly connected the world. The telegraph, used to send Morse code through electrical impulses was an advancement like no other and had a widespread use (Costigan 2015, p. 2). However, just like in today’s technology the outback was often left behind. Globalisation has created perceptions about areas that are remote from cities (Marchant 2014). Early white settlements in rural Australia quite often were without reliable technology which included the telegraph (Marchant 2014).

With the invention of the mobile phone it would seem that there is still a great divide between rural and metropolitan areas regarding cellular coverage. In the 21^st Century, there is still a significant part of the earth without mobile phone coverage leaving rural areas, once again, behind in the world’s technological advancements.

Reference List:

Costigan, L 2015, 'Module 4: Electricity creates the wired world', COMM12022: Technology, Communication and Culture, CQUniversity e-courses

Marchant, J 2014, 'Connecting the Bush Telegraph: Promoting Networks in the Global Countryside', Global Studies Journal, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 13-20.