CS100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Typewriter, Media Culture, Second Industrial Revolution
Document Summary
Explain the significance of the development of phonetic writing. Phonetic writing (unlike pictographs) is connected directly to the spoken language with symbols representing sounds. This means one only has to learn a small number of symbols and then all of the language can be represented. This made literacy much easier to attain, paving the path for a literate society in the future. Took over 40 years for a 40% penetration rate . Before the 1830s: annual subscription; partisan or special interest niche audience. 1833 benjamin day, new york sun: individual copies, advertiser subsidized; mass audience. As we know from last week, beginning from the late 18th century (steam engine, textile mills, mechanized production) Beginning of a blurring of social distinctions between aristocratic society with merchants. Explosion in the variety of available jobs because: expansion of government bureaucracies, large-scale businesses and corporations, schools, retail (and with the telephone and typewriter), clerks/secretaries. And because of these three things advertising!
