[Air-l] development of social codes around a technology

[Alexander Kuskis]

Here's Amazon.com's listing..........Alex Kuskis

When Old Technologies Were New: Thinking About Electric Communication
in the Late Nineteenth Century
by Carolyn Marvin "Electrical professionals were the ambitious catalysts of 
an industrial shift from steam to
electricity taking place in the United States and Western Europe at the..." 
(more)
Editorial Reviews

Product Description:
In the history of electronic communication, the last quarter of the 
nineteenth century holds a special place, for it was during this period that 
the telephone, phonograph, electric light, wireless, and cinema were all 
invented. In When old Technologies Were New, Carolyn Marvin explores how two 
of these new inventions--the telephone and the electric light--were publicly 
envisioned at the end of the nineteenth century, as seen in specialized 
engineering journals and popular media. Marvin pays particular attention to 
the telephone, describing how it disrupted established social relations, 
unsettling customary ways of dividing the private person and family from the 
more public setting of the community. On the lighter side, she describes how 
people spoke louder when calling long distance, and how they worried about 
catching contagious diseases over the phone. A particularly powerful chapter 
deals with telephonic precursors of radio broadcasting--the "Telephone 
Herald" in New York and the "Telefon Hirmondo" of Hungary--and the conflict 
between the technological development of broadcasting and the attempt to 
impose a homogenous, ethnocentric variant of Anglo-Saxon culture on the 
public. While focusing on the way professionals in the electronics field 
tried to control the new media, Marvin also illuminates the broader social 
impact, presenting a wide-ranging, informative, and entertaining account of 
the early years of electronic media.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195063414/qid=1106865684/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/002-8365121-9140810
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ulla Bunz" <bunz at scils.rutgers.edu>
To: <air-l at listserv.aoir.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2005 4:53 PM
Subject: RE: [Air-l] development of social codes around a technology


> Amanda,
> There's a book called "When old technologies were new" but I can't 
> remember
> the author right now.
>
> Also, I know that "hello" used to be considered vulgar and rude to use on
> the phone because it's originally a duck hunting shout, at least according
> to Naomi Baron.
> Baron, N. (2002). Who sets email style? Prescriptivism, coping strategies,
> and democratization of access. Information Society, 18(5), 403-413.
>
> Hope this helps a little.
>
> Ulla
>
> ----------------------------------------------------
> Ulla Bunz
> Assistant Professor
> Department of Communication
> Rutgers University
> 4 Huntington Street
> New Brunswick, NJ 08901
> Email: bunz at scils.rutgers.edu
> ----------------------------------------------------
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: air-l-aoir.org-bounces at listserv.aoir.org
> [mailto:air-l-aoir.org-bounces at listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Amanda
> Lenhart
> Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2005 4:14 PM
> To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
> Subject: [Air-l] development of social codes around a technology
>
> Hello AoIR list,
>
> I'm at work on a MA thesis, and I'm searching for some literature on the
> development of social codes around new technologies, specifically
> technologies of communication. Particularly I'm looking for some
> historic context--how did/do things like "phone manners" evolve? How do
> we learn what's "rude" or "polite"? How did we decide that all caps in
> email means "yelling"? How localized is the development of these kinds
> of rules or codes? And are these codes constantly in flux or do they
> ever stabilize?
>
> Any resources or places to look would be most helpful.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Amanda Lenhart
> MA Candidate
> Communications, Culture and Technology
> Georgetown University
> &
> Pew Internet & American Life Project
>
> _______________________________________________
> The Air-l-aoir.org at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org
> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at:
> http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
>
> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> http://aoir.org/airjoin.html
>
> _______________________________________________
> The Air-l-aoir.org at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org
> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: 
> http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
>
> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> http://aoir.org/airjoin.html