Telecommunications and Popular Culture

Humans are social creatures: we like to talk, we like to hear, we like to view.

We like to chat, and chat, and chat. Look at the person in the car next to you - probably talking on the phone or surfing the Internet on their watch.

Communication is the key at home and on the road, and telecommunications is "the buzz" on Wall Street.

How did it get this way? How does it work? What does it mean?This book explores the unique intersection of science, technology and applied culture: how we communicate affects our lives and history on a day-to-day basis.

Let's face it - long before the Internet there were rotary phones; long before fibre optics there was telegraph; long before telegraph there were horses.

Horses?This illustrated volume offers a blend of lucid definition of technical terms and discussion of the cultural impact of various telecommunications concepts and media.

These pages explore such questions as: how does the Internet work and what are its social implications?; digital audiotape - why does it sound so good?; what are the cultural implications of "zines"?; and how does the First Amendment affect how we talk?