The invention of the first camera dates back to the ancient Greece and China, where camera obscura was used to project an image upside down. Although camera obscura has been developed and used for many years, the invention of preserving the images could be considered the real breakthrough in photography. In 1827 Joseph Nicephore Niepce was the first to develop a tool to preserve photography using light, and named it heliograph. However, the Frenchman’s technology did not preserve the photographs permanently, but only for eight hours. After Niepce’s death, his partner Louis Daguerre created the “daguerreotype” in 1839, a technique to preserve images permanently on copper-sheets. In 1841, Henry Fox Talbot was the one to improve the technology, by creating the “calotype” process, which meant preserving images on paper and the invention of first negatives (Finch, 2014).
From this point on, the improvements of the camera started to have a much faster pace. George Eastman developed the Kodak camera at the end of the 19th century using celluloid film. This was revolutionary as cameras became available to a larger group of users. Kodak also processed the films and sent developed photographs back to the consumers. Through the development of compact, smaller and portable cameras after the First World War, many people could start capturing their memories quite easily. Instant cameras were the last step before digitalization. Instant cameras such as Polaroid are still popular nowadays, showing that some people are still drawn to having a one-of-a kind physical photograph, rather than thousands in their smartphones. Steven Sasson invented the first digital camera in 1975, while working at Kodak. From then on, photography moved into small portable cameras and smartphones as we know and use them today (Bellis, 2017).
The invention of printed photography was revolutionary at its time. Not only could individuals capture important moments, but it also allowed us to have documentation of important historical events. Photos have the power of telling a story without a single word and shifting opinions. Cameras and photography played a significant role for example in the perception of the Vietnam War, or the current refugee crisis. Photography is still revolutionary today allowing virtually anyone to capture anything, anywhere, anytime. Every smartphone has a camera; therefore photography has become a continuous source of information. Although, the fact that everyone can share information through photos is revolutionary, the outcomes of such availability to everyone can be both positive and negative. Positive is, that there is a much higher chance of truthfully capturing important moments, providing information globally and instantaneously. The negative is, since everyone can use a camera we can become swamped in information and no longer differentiate the really significant messages from the rest.
Instagram, where photographs are of essence, is one of the most popular social media platforms with over a billion active users (Instagram, 2018). I believe emergent online-social-mobile communication in general is revolutionary as it allows people to exchange information with anyone, including total strangers anywhere in the world instantly and constantly. Yet, Instagram itself does not offer a new form of communication; it is solely the next social media platform, which uses photographs for communication. As any other invention, social platforms including Instagram can be beneficial as well as dangerous based on who and how is using it. If we can share significant or interesting information which is going to enrich our lives, we can benefit as individuals as well as a society. On the other hand, if we use such media to solely receive instant gratification from others and create second lives online it may lead to a negative shift in our society.
This danger can be even amplified by the arrival of wearables. Of course wearables have many benefits, especially when used in medical fields or at high-risk jobs; however, I believe wearables may be rather dangerous when used in the field of communication. Wearables can become revolutionary in communication, by shifting the control from the user to the technology through a constant connection leading to addiction. In my opinion, identifying eras by their communicative tools could be tricky. There is a vast difference between invention of a pen, telephone and television, which could be clearly separated into eras. There is also a vast difference between these and the Internet era. However, I do not think online social networks should be perceived as a milestone framing the way we conceive history. Humans have been socially networking for hundreds of years, as described by Rainie and Wellman, and the current online social networking era could solely be considered as a continuation of an established process using new tools and technologies (Rainie & Wellman, 2014).
The inventors of the first camera would never imagine all the subsequent innovations leading to sharing photographs instantly online. Similarly, the Internet we know today is far from Michael Hauben’s ideal. Hauben called for Net to be a space open for people to exchange opinions and information in order to seize power over their own lives. He called for the Net to be unprivatized and uncommercialized, allowing people’s voices to be heard (Hauben, 1994). With the emergence of social media, the Net is very far from being uncommercialized. Not only social media firms have successful businesses selling users the space for sharing opinions, but individual users also often use these platforms to build a brand and create business opportunities. From the “hacker-geek” perspective, access to computers should be unlimited and all information should be free (Levy, 1984). Although it is beneficial to allow hackers to find ways how to tweak software and keep innovating the technology, a problem arises when it comes to social networks as personal data is at stake. Again, both benefits and danger stem from giving hackers access to software. By doing so, we could experience another great technological revolution or break through very soon, but on the other hand, it could lead to a total loss of privacy.
References:
Bellis, M. (n.d.). A Comprehensive Look at the History of Photography. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-photography-and-the-camera-1992331
Finch, G. (2014, September 12). A Brief History Of The Camera. Retrieved from https://www.photography-basics.com/history-of-the-camera/
Hauben, M. (1994). What the Net Means to Me. Amateur Computerist Newsletter, 66(1).
Instagram: Active users 2018. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/253577/number-of-monthly-active-instagram-users/
Levy, S. (1984). Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution. Garden City, NY: Nerraw Manijaime/Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-19195-2
Rainie, L. & Weelman, B. (2014). Networked: The New Social Operating System, MIT Press. ISBN 9780262017190