humans are a species that needs to socialize. Communication has always been crucial to human since the prehistoric era to enhance human interactions.
The History of Communication
The first development of communication system can be traced back since the birth of speech (approximately 500, 000 BCE) and with the wide range of vocal abilities, humans have been able to express their feelings clearly.
As there are imperfections in human speech, graphic symbols such as cave paintings, pictograms, petroglyphs and ideograms are created to facilitate communication and longevity of information.
With the discovery of fire usage, prehistoric humans have been able to develop long distance communication using smoke signals. More forms of long distance communication such as drums, carrier pigeons, messengers-on-horses and telegraph are then developed to further improve the speed and clarity of information transfer.
With the invention of phone by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876, a new era in long distance communication begins and is henceforth known as telecommunication. This has enabled the dissemination of information that typically took hours to reach the receivers in as short as a few seconds.
The invention of Internet is considered one of the most amazing invention in human history. It totally revolutionized the communication industry and usher a new era known as dot-com era. The Internet has proved to be a most useful invention especially during the COVID 19 period as it allows many industries and businesses to continue operation midst a turbulent year.
Nowadays, when talking about communication, 5G will always be the main topic and there are even rumors about the advent of 6G. 5G can be considered as another breakthrough in communication as more information can be disseminated at a much faster rate.
The Way Forward in Communication
Currently, many countries are racing to deploy 5G as it will revolutionize the industries and businesses models. No matter how bad industries are affected by COVID-19, there is always a silver lining and that is the development in semiconductor industry and the deployment of 5G technology to greatly improve the virtual communication experience.
As the world is moving into 5G communication, there is a need to further miniaturize electronic components and devices for the construction of base station that will enable 5G. This will result in a boom in semiconductors and electronics industries to accommodate the growing demands for electronics components and devices.
There is a possibility in the near future that base stations will be the size of a modem and each household can have their own base station. With the rapid development of communication technology, human lives will become more convenient and at the same time enhance the bonds and relations among ourselves.
It is surprising that how much we can still grow in the area of communication after the invention of telephone and there are still much more room for improvement that have yet to be discovered. It is fascinating that a simple face-to-face speech communication between prehistoric humans can grow to the extend that every human across the globe can communicate with each other at the touch of a button anytime anywhere.
What does the Future Holds?
Mankind has come a long way in developing our ability to communicate. How much more can we still grows in the future? Will we be able to enter a virtual space to communicate or can we communicate without using our vocal chords? Is it possible that we will one day be able to communicate with other species on planet Earth? Or Is it possible that one day we might be able to find and interact with other organism from distant planets or galaxies?
There are many uncertainties in the future but one thing is for sure is that the future will definitely be interesting and full of surprises.
