FORMS OF EARLY TELECOMMUNICATIONS. Technology Essay (Essay Sample)

FORMS OF EARLY TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
List of Figures
Figure 1: Smoke rising from a watch tower from the Great Wall 6
Figure 2: Smoke rising from the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel6
Figure 3: Smoke signal puffs being used for long-distance communication 7
FORMS OF EARLY TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Introduction
In the past during a time of no tablet of smartphones, folks had to wait sometimes months or even years to get a message from one side of the planet. In history, long distance communication often required the use ships, horses, carriages and sometimes pigeons. These were some of the ingenious ways of delivering messages to different destinations. In certain cases, the messages never arrived at the intended recipient. But one of the most used and recognized early forms of communication entailed the use of smoke signals which was mostly practiced and applied by Native Americans and people in early China. Smoke signal is a form of visual communication usually used over a long distance to convey news to gather people or inform them about an attack or impending danger. The smoke signal was a simple communication system used to direct basic communications over long distances.
Brief History & Methods of Utilization
According to the Times website, smoke signals have been in existence since ancient times where in prehistoric China it was used by soldiers guarding the Great Wall to alert people who were as far as 400 miles away from the tower . They utilized a method that involved a mix of signals bouncing from one tower to the next. The material used in igniting the fire used a combination of wolf dung, sulfur and saltpeter to make dense smoke that could be easily viewed from a far-off distance. See (figure 1) below taken in the year 2006 to symbolize the smoke signal methods used in ancient China at the Great Wall.
Native Americans were also involved with using smoke signals to transfer messages to their people regarding the outcome of battle or to call for reinforcements. In order to send smoke signs over greater distances, the native tribes used to set up chains of fires to communicate the messages from one location to the next as they travelled. Smoke signals to have been used to transfer messages for many centuries.