Communication Networks - Assignment Example

?     Assignment Assignment Part Communication networks of ancient empires played a pivotal role in the establishment and development of imperial authority, as well as international trade amongst the civilizations. The extent to which an empire reached in terms of physical area was utilized as an indicator of the empire’s efficiency in terms of communication. Ancient empires such as China, Persia, Rome and Greece all made extensive use of writing in terms of the collection and dispersal of information, thereby developing a momentous postal and transmission system through which messages were conveyed. As early as the early 15th century, news was disseminated across the European continent and other regions across the globe (Black, 2001). One of the most notable empires that used communication technologies effectively to handle information was the Assyrian Empire. In the first millennium BC, the Assyrian Empire expanded to an unprecedented size; the empire stretched from River Nile in Egypt to the Iranian mountains, thereby nearly enveloping the modern Middle East. The empire’s ruling elite managed to control the empire despite its massive size primarily because they used efficient communication technologies that facilitated effective handling of administrative messages and records. Constant innovations in administrative technology facilitated the development of communication systems, which facilitated economic growth. One of Assyrians’ most prominent exports was technologies of social management and control, which entailed the technologies such as coercion, information management and control of the empire’s physical assets. Assyrians typically found effective ways of managing storage, movement and management of goods, armies, people, information and capital. In order to sustain the empire’s massive population, Assyrian administrators developed an administrative structure consisting of four intertwining components that enabled effective communication throughout the empire. These components were the temple administration, the palace, the city or town administration and the provincial administration (Black, 2001). While all components had their individual hierarchies, as well as power bases, the ultimate power typically trickled down from the king. The four structures served to create a balance in power, allowing information and decrees to flow from the king to the common folk. These structures allowed Assyrians to construct a streamlined economic and administrative system that saved on administrative costs, while also controlling a vast majority of the empire’s internal production means. Administrators at the lowest structure (the town/city administration) were primarily tasked with collection of taxes and management of tax records, labor conscriptions, as well as military call-ups. As a result of the effective hierarchical system of communication, the king continually settled deportees from other regions of the empire and parceled out such land as favors in exchange for loyalty. This developed an extremely stratified society with minimally sized aristocratic elite, thereby keeping public expenditure at a minimal. Assyrian military innovation also enabled the empire to maintain a well-organized system of material and food distribution and storage for soldiers and the entire population. Communication problems were resolved through an effective chain of posts, which facilitated speedy communication between distant and capital province. They perfected the communication technology by using horses for military purposes and typical communication aims. One of the reasons why the Roman Empire was quite strong was because of its capacity to communicate with the masses. Communication held the society together through beliefs in similar laws and myths, which demonstrated a common bond passed down from one generation to another (Black, 2001). Emperors in the Roman Empire used inexpensive means to communicate with the masses, for instance, emperors communicated by displaying gestures, which were read from long distances where voice communication was ineffective. Through the development of both architecture and art, messages were incorporated to integrate mythical themes and preserve history; Romans used art and gestures to instill values such as the essence of paying taxes and inform people of decisions made by the aristocrat. The primary communication technology used by Romans was the medium of public speaking through exhibitions, shows and public gatherings, which dominated Roman urban life. Roman orators used various categories namely invention, arrangement, style, memory and delivery to deliver speeches rather than using scrolls, which were relatively expensive since they used expensive cloth such as silk. Delivery was the most critical category since it entailed the use of gestures and voice tone, meaning that the speaker used both nonverbal and verbal communication. To the Roman, semocorporis (the expression of the body) was critical since it bore the capacity to utterly displace spoken word. Roman emperors used semocorporis to convey emotion, transmit messages such as tax increments, demand, summon, threaten, and express fear or questions to the masses. This means of communication was quite effective and inexpensive to the Roman Empire. With regard to information handling, Romans kept records through recording devices such as khipu and quipu, which consisted of colored piled and spun thread from cotton cords with values such as numeric values encoded through knots. However, the development of this system did not entail the recreation of phonetic sounds as in the case of script usage. Quipus were critical to states in the Roman Empire since they comprised records for the purposes of bureaucracy and an effective means of communication. The communication technology handled information such as output from farms and mines, composition of military and work forces, forms and amounts of tribute and taxes paid to the empire and contents of storehouses. All official Roman records were kept in a tabularium, which was the official records office that simultaneously housed the offices most city officials who guarded the integrity of the records. During power transfer from one emperor to another, information accumulated on quipus was used to recount the successes and deeds of the previous ruler (Black, 2001). The Egyptian Empire was one of the first civilizations to develop the art of writing for both communication and record keeping purposes. In 500 BC, Egyptians typically used pictorial characters referred to as hieroglyphs to depict concepts and objects. Because of the significance of hieroglyphic inscriptions, which were typically used for sacred and holy writings on tombs and temples, Egyptians introduced papyrus as key Egyptian scripts, which communicated messages from the pharaohs to the masses. Additionally, Egyptians used papyrus scripts to keep and control records of tax payments, decrees, crops produced and stored in silos and other records such as trade transactions between the Egyptian Empire and other empires. The pressure to kept extremely efficient records led to the transformation of Egyptian scribes into intently abbreviated versions of the hieratic script. The advent of the Rosetta stone facilitated long term information encoding and storage (Black, 2001). Similar to bureaucrats in other empires, Egyptian rulers also benefited from writing, which helped them improve their administration, for instance, management of the empire’s resources by enhancing accountancy purposes and the enhancement of transnational trade relations. Signs used in Egyptian writing technologies essentially denoted quantities and established ownership of commodities, thereby facilitating effective management of aristocratic wealth and keeping public expenditure at a minimum. Part 2 Apple Inc.’s clientele continues to enjoy a vast array of product offerings developed by the innovative company (Isaacson, 2011). Apple Inc. has been developing innovative products since the 1970s as evidenced by the company’s product timeline, which is as follows: Year Launched Model Family 1976 July 1 Apple I Apple I 1977 April 1 Apple II Apple II 1978 June 1 Disk II Drives 1979 June 1 Apple II Plus Apple II Europlus Apple II J-Plus Bell & Howell Bell & Howell Disk II Apple Silen Type Apple II Apple II Apple II Apple II Drives Printers 1980 September 1 Apple III Modem IIB Printer IIA Monitor III Monitor II Disk III Apple III Modems Printers Displays Displays Drives 1981 September 1 December Apple ProFile Apple III Revised Drives Apple III 1982 October 1 Apple Dot Matrix Printer Apple Letter Quality Printer Printers Printers 1983 January 1 December 1 Apple IIe Apple Lisa Apple III Plus Apple ImageWriter Apple II 68000 Apple III Printers 1984 January 1 January 24 April 1 May 1 June September 10 December Apple Lisa 2 Macintosh (128K) Macintosh External Disk Drive (400K) Apple Modem 300 Apple Modem 1200 MacWrite 1.0 Apple IIc Apple Scribe Printer Apple Mouse IIc Disk IIc Apple DuoDisk 5.25 Apple Color Plotter Apple ImageWrieter Wide Carriage Macintosh 512K Macintosh 128K (revised) AppleColor 100 68000 Compact Drives Modems Modems Software Apple II Printers Apple Mouse Drives Drives Printers Printers Compact Compact Displays 1985 January 1 March 1 April 1 June September 1 Macintosh XL Apple LaserWriter Apple LocalTalk Connector Apple IIe Enhanced Apple Personal Modem Apple ImageWriter II Apple UniDisk 5.25 Macintosh hard Disk 20 Apple UniDisk 3.5 Apple ColoMonitor IIe Apple ColorMonitor IIc AppleColor RGB Monitor Apple Monochrome Monitor AppleColor Composite Monitor 68000 Printers Networking Apple II Modems Printer Drives Drives Drives Displays Displays Displays Displays Displays 1987 January 1 March 2 Macintosh Plus (Platinum) Apple IIe Platimum AppleShare Server 1.0 Macintosh SE Macintosh II AppleColor Hi-Resolution RG Monitor Compact Apple II Software Compact Mac II Displays August ImageWriter LQ AppleFax Modem Apple PC 5.25" Drive Apple Tape Backup 40SC Printers Modems Drives Drives 1988 January 1 March August September 1 September 19 Apple LaserWriter Family Apple CD SC Apple Scanner Apple IIc Plus Macintosh IIx Printers Drives Scanner Apple II Mac II 1989 January 19 March 7 July August 1 September 30 October 1 Macintosh SE/30 Macintosh IIcx Apple Macintosh Portrait Display Apple Hi-Resolution Monochrome Display Apple Modem 2400 Macintosh SE FDHD Macintosh Portable Apple IIGS 91M, ROM 3) Compact Mac II Displays Displays Modems Compact Portable Apple II 1990 March 19 October 15 Macintosh IIfx Macintosh LC Macintosh IIsi Mac II LC Compact 1991 February 11 March 1 October 21 Macintosh Portable (backlit screen) Apple IIe Card (needs Macintosh LC) Macintosh Classic II Qaudra 900 PowerBook 170 Portable Apple II Compact Quadra PowerBook 1992 March 23 May 18 August 3 October 19 Macintosh LC II Quadra 950 PowerBook 145 Macintosh IIvi PowerBook Duo 230 LC Quadra PowerBook Mac II PowerBook Duo 1993 February 10 March 22 June 7 June 28 Macintosh LC III/III+ Centris 650 Quadra 800 PowerBook 165c Workgroup 95 Power CD PowerBook 180c Macintosh C 520 LC Centris Quadra PowerBook Workgroup Server Power CD PowerBook LC 1994 February 2 April 26 May 16 December 1 Macintosh LC 575 Apple QuickTake 100 Workgroup Server 9150 PowerBook Duo 280c Pippin LC QuickTake Workgroup Server PowerBook Duo Pippin 1995 January 28 April 3 June 19 August 7 August 28 Power Macintosh 6200/6300 Macintosh LC 580 Power Macintosh 9500 Power Macintosh 8500 Power Macintosh/Performa 5300 PowerBook Duo 2300 c Power Macintosh LC Power Macintosh Power Macintosh Performa PowerBook Duo 1996 February 15 February 26 March 10 April 1 October 23 Apple Network Server 700/150 Workgroup Server 8550 Performa 5260/5300 Performa 5400 Power Macintosh 7600 Performa 6400 PowerBook 1400 Network Server Workgroup Server Performa Performa Power Macintosh Performa PowerBook 1997 February 17 November 10 Power Macintosh 9600 PowerBook 3400 Power Macintosh G3 minitower PowerBook G3 Power Macintosh PowerBook Power Macintosh PowerBook G3 1998 January 31 March 2 August 15 Power Macintosh G3 AIO Macintosh Server iMac G3 Power Macintosh Macintosh Server iMac 1999 January 5 July 21 October 13 Power Macintosh G3 (Blue & White) iBook Power Macintosh G4 Graphite Macintosh Server iBook Power Macintosh 2000 February 16 September 13 PowerBook (“Prismo”) iBook (FireWire) PowerBook G3 iBook 2001 January July 18 October 23 PowerBook G4 Titanium Power Macintosh G4 Quicksilver iPod (1st generation) PowerBook G4 Macintosh Server iPod Classic 2002 January 7 April 29 July 17 iMac G4 15” eMac iMac G4 17” iPod (2nd generation) iMac eMac iMac iPod Classic 2003 January 7 April 28 November 18 PowerBook G4 (17”) Aluminum iPod (3rd generation) iMac G4 20” PowerBook G4 iPod Classic iMac 2004 January 6 January 8 June 28 July 19 September 26 Xserve Cluster Node G5 iPod Mini (1st generation) iPod +HP Cinema Display (23”) iPod (4the generation) iPod Photo Xserve iPod Mini iPod Classic Displays iPod Classic iPod Classic 2005 January 11 February 23 October 12 iPod Shuffle (1st generation) iPod Mini (2nd generation) iPod iPod Shuffle iPod Mini iPod Classic 2006 January 10 February 28 April 11 September 12 iMac iPod Radio Remote Mac Mini Core Duo Apple Remote Desktop 3 iPod Shuffle iMac iPod Accessories Mac Mini Software iPod Shuffle 2007 March 21 June 29 August 7 September 5 Apple TV iPhone iMac Mac Mini iPod Nano (3rd generation) iPod Classic (6th generation) Apple TV iPhone iMac Mac Mini iPod Nano iPod Classic 2008 January 8 February 26 February 27 July 11 September 9 October 14 Mac Pro Aperture 2 MacBook Pro iPod Touch iPhone 3G iPod Touch MacBook Pro Mac Pro Software MacBook Pro iPod Touch iPhone iPod Touch MacBook Pro 2009 January 6 March 3 June 19 September 9 MacBook Pro Mac Mini iMac Time Capsule iPod Shuffle iPhone 3GS iPod Nano MacBook Pro Mac Mini iMac AirPort, Drives iPod Shuffle iPhone iPod Nano 2010 April 3 April 30 June 24 August 9 iPad (Wi-Fi) iPad (Wi-Fi + 3G) iPhone 4 Mac Pro iPad iPad iPhone Mac Pro 2011 February 10 February 24 March 11 May 3 July 20 October 12 October 14 iPhone 4 (CDMA) MacBook Pro iPad 2 iMac MacBook Air iOS 5 iCloud iPhone 4S MacBook Pro iPhone MacBook Pro iPad iMac MacBook Air Software Software iPhone MacBook Pro 2012 January 19 June 11 September 19 September 21 November 16 December iBooks Author iPad Apple TV MacBook Pro iPod Touch iPhone 5 iPad Mini (Wi-Fi +Cellular) iMac Software iPad Apple TV MacBook Pro iPod Touch iPhone iPad iMac Big-Kids computing world fosters the existence of an amiable relationship between numerous computational roles by allowing the company to reconcile the needs of both children and adults, particularly their parents in the company’s product offerings. For instance, Apple Inc. provides for the creation of age-restrictive passwords for its products, allowing both children and adults to appreciate the significance and appropriateness of the products (Isaacson, 2011). In essence, through the Big-Kids computing world, Apple Inc. provides an utterly safe computing environment for children, while at the same time providing substantive amounts of educational, as well as fun-filled applications. This facilitates the mediation of the dichotomy that exists between the needs of children such as fun and education and those of adults such as safety and appropriateness. Part 3 Stewart Brand was a consummate networker who founded the Whole Earth Catalog, as well as the Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link (WELL). Brand was immensely instrumental in the development of the MIT Media Lab and his professional works indicate close relations between the 1960s’ countercultural institutions and the 1980s’ cyber-topian network. Brand constantly interconnected with people from diverse political and social strata such as the Los Alamos National Lab, the Hippie commune and the Fluxus happening. Brand’s connection with these people emphasized his techno-libertarian collectivist ideology, which Turner (2006) refers to as new communalism that is the epitome of modern, digital technology. In 1986, Brand was a visiting scientist working at the MIT Media Lab, but later became an organizer of private-conferences for corporations such as AT&T, Volvo and Shell. Brand’s role in the digital world changed when he co-founded the Global Business Network (GBN), which investigates global futures, as well as business strategies defined by various values and information that Brand has always deemed crucial. GBN is intently involved in the application and evolution of planning, complementary tactical tools and scenario thinking, which is the focal point of digital technology in the modern world. Brand’s Whole Earth Catalog focuses on shifting people’s mindsets from the 1960s’ countercultural culture to one that upholds human progress, which is based on personal, liberating and decentralized technological development or soft technology. Brand endorses technologies such as genetic modification of organisms and nuclear power, poising that these technologies present more benefits than risks to the modern digital environment. Kevin Kelly, who worked as an editor and publisher of the Whole Earth Catalog shared Brand’s opinion regarding the significance of cultural change in terms of enhancing the value of technology. Kelly and Brand both continually endorse the exploration of biological and technical creation as a vital tool to shift global focus from the 1960s’ culture to one that upholds individuality and scientific breakthroughs (Turner, 2006). Kelly and Brand is a technology enthusiast who hunts for the complexities and ambiguities created by technology, particularly in biology. Evidently, Brand and Kelly have similar perspectives regarding the significance of technology in various fields such as religion, history and biology. References Black, E. (2001). IBM and the holocaust: The strategic alliance between Nazi Germany and America's most powerful corporation. New York: Crown Publishers. Isaacson, W. (2011). Steve Jobs. New York: Simon & Schuster. Turner, F. (2006). From counterculture to cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the whole earth network, and the rise of digital utopianism. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press. Read More