The Evolution of a New Mass Medium

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A new medium emerges not just from the work of inventors, such as Thomas Edison, but also from social, cultural, political, and economic changes. For instance, the Internet arose to meet people’s desire to transport messages and share information more rapidly in an increasingly mobile and interconnected global population.

Typically, each media industry goes through three stages in their evolution. First is the novelty or development stage. During this stage, inventors and technicians try to solve a particular problem, such as making pictures move, transmitting messages between ships and shore, or sending mail electronically.

Second is the entrepreneurial stage, in which inventors and investors determine a practical and marketable use for the new device. For example, the Internet has some roots in scientists’ desire for a communication system that could enable their colleagues across the country to share time on a few rare supercomputers.

Third is the mass medium stage. At this point, businesses figure out how to market the new device as a consumer product. To illustrate, Pentagon and government researchers developed the prototype for the Internet, but commercial interests extended the medium’s usefulness to individuals and businesses.