@macDougallPeopleNetwork2013
Title: [@macDougallPeopleNetwork2013] date: 2023-03-09 type: reference project: Memex2
tags:: Memex2, telephone, politics, control, communication
Reference¶
MacDougall, Robert. “Visions of Telephony.” In The People’s Network, 61–91. United States: University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc, 2013.
Summary & Key Take Aways¶
Robert MacDougall, in "Visions of Telephony," describes "three visions of telephony." Gardinier Hubbard had a vision of the telephone as something "for the people," but to achieve that, had to free itself from the control of Western Union. However, there were political isues that wanted to make the telephone for the wealthier part of the market (MacDougall, 2013, 73). Forbes was one of the people who thought that the telephone should not belong to the people, but that it should be a "tool of commerce, a modest refinement of the telegraph" (MacDougall, 2013, 73). The telephone was therefore seen as a way to make money rather than populist reasons. Another vision was Theodore Vail, Bell Telphone's first general manager, who wanted to think of the telephone industry as "one big system" (MacDougall, 2013, 78). He wanted to "unify all wire communications in America - both telephone and telegraph - under one company's control" (MacDougall, 2013, 85). This would envision the telephone as monopoly exercised by one company. MacDougall, throughout the article, paints this inescapable political attachment to the creation of the telephone and the competition of control it would create for North American companies (MacDougall, 2013, 90).
How does it relate to class?¶
This article illustrates the clear political entanglements of the telephone with its users and providers. It touches on the theme of control, which has been explored countless time like with the classification scheme where it was Western notions that controlled how information should be classified. This imperial flavour was extended to the telephone, with companies and wealthy people battling for political superiority and control of the masses. This, at the same time, also touches on the idea of Agency, given that it was political agency that shaped the development and communication system of the telephone.