Technological Change and Radio

Technology is progressing everyday and determines how we see, view and control the media. Technological change is ultimately the cause of radio and why it keeps evolving. As technology advances, so does the techniques and the ways of the radio industry. This is evident from the evolution of Marconi’s radio to Pandora radio today, there have been many technological changes, big and small, that has helped the radio evolve.


As technology advances and new ways of performing tasks and new equipment are developed, they are applied to other mechanisms to make things easier. Technological change applies to almost everything in our lives. Of course we have made a big leap from riding in horse carriages to riding in cars or from switching tapes in cassette players to downloading applications on our iPod Touch. All these changes make an impact on society. Technological change is the cause of many progressions on the modern world as well as in the media.

In 1896 Marconi developed a radio transmitter that allowed radio waves to carry Morse code to other places. Ten years later, De Forest invented the vacuum tube that amplified and carried voice, sounds and music to be broadcasted. These technological changes ultimately led to major broadcasts and thus started the evolution of radio broadcasting. In the early 1920s broadcasting stations like NBC were created and the rise of radio began. The technology of radio emerged and merchants began advertising on the radio, shows were created for entertainment and news was available to all with a radio. Without technological change, we would still be listening to a radio instead of surfing the internet, or watching broadcasting on TV.