Communication Breakthroughs: The Typewriter

 One of the greatest technological breakthroughs in the history of communications would have to be the typewriter. Being developed all throughout the 19th century, the first practical typewriter was not invented until 1867 by an American inventor named Christopher Lantham Sholes. 

Sholes gained inspiration for his model from an article he read in the Scientific American about a British inventor who was working on a similar type of machine. During the next few years Sholes continued to develop and fine-tune his typewriter, such as making it faster and more efficient. It wouldn't be until 1873 that the machine would come to reality, when Sholes signed a contract with E. Remington and Sons in Ilion, NY to being the manufacturing of his typewriter. The first model was put out the following year and was branded as the "Remington". Even then, the initial model still had some kinks to straighten out. For example, the original model did not have a shift key meaning that it could only type capital letters. However, this was remedied in 1878 with the Remington Model 2.  

                      

Remington Model 2 Typewriter

Once the Remington was first introduced, many companies wanted to begin the manufacturing of their own models of typewriters and the industry began to take off. Versions of electric typewriters were experimented with in the 1870s, with Thomas Edison inventing the first one in 1872. Later on in 1920, James Smathers introduced a more practical, office-use electric typewriter. Another advancement for typewriters was making them portable, with the first one being introduced to the market in 1909. Some features that were worked on ended up not being successful, however, such as noiseless models because it was unable to print letters dark enough. 

The typewriter had immediate positive impacts on the working world once it was manufactured for the public. First off, it drastically increased both the speed and efficiency of office work for businesses and government and allowed for information to be communicated much faster. Typewriters also greatly helped people with disabilities such as blindness to be able to communicate through writing. However, the most significant effect typewriters had was on women in the workplace. Specifically, between the 1950's and 70's there was a massive increase in the amount of female stenographers and typists with around 64% of the field being comprised of women.

Eight Values of Free Expression

The eight values of free expression are essential values to our democracy that allow for liberties such as free speech and debate as well as the ability for the people to place checks on and investigate their own government. I believe that the two most important values of free expression are checks on governmental power and promoting innovation.

The first of the two, check on governmental power, is essential to keep a balance between the people and their government. Without the ability for the people to call out their government when they see abuse of power or to investigate the government when there appears to be wrongdoing, the government holds all the power. It is the job and responsibility of journalists, news sources, and even everyday citizens themselves to highlight and expose abuses of power by government anytime they see them and inform the people. Especially now, when with rapidly advancing technology it is easier than ever to be an independent reporter. One of the most prominent cases of this is Edward Snowden in 2013 exposing the NSA for abusing their power and spying on American citizens. Through this the people can make an educated decision about their government and who they wish to vote for in the next election.                           

               

The second of the two most important values, promoting innovation, is essential to the success of a government and a country as a whole. A successful country must encourage innovation within its people and promote new ideas and free thinking. This pushes a country forward through new inventions, technological breakthroughs, new medicine, and much more. A country which does not promote innovation with its citizens creates a uninspired, drone-like working class that ultimately leads to the demise of that country. Realistically this looks like promoting STEM programs and schooling for youth, encouraging immigration, and attempting to work productively with other countries.