Periodization

  • Period: 1759 BCE to

    MODERN

  • 1450 BCE

    Printing press

    A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium, thereby transferring the ink.
  • 1200 BCE

    Block printing

    Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper.
  • Period: 1200 BCE to 1750 BCE

    EARLY MODERN

  • Photographs

    A picture made using a camera, in which an image is focused onto film or other light-sensitive material and then made visible and permanent by chemical treatment, or stored digitally.
  • Telegraph

    A system for transmitting messages from a distance along a wire, especially one creating signals by making and breaking an electrical connection.
  • Silent movies

    A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound.
  • Telephone

    A system for transmitting voices over a distance using wire or radio, by converting acoustic vibrations to electrical signals.
  • First wireless communication

    The first wireless telephone conversation occurred in 1880, when Alexander Graham Bell and Charles Sumner Tainter invented the photophone, a telephone that sent audio over a beam of light. The photophone required sunlight to operate, and a clear line of sight between transmitter and receiver.
  • Radio

    The transmission and reception of electromagnetic waves of radio frequency, especially those carrying sound messages.
  • Movies with sound

    A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film.
  • Paperback books

    A book with a flexible paper binding.
  • Cable TV

    A system in which television programs are transmitted to the sets of subscribers by cable rather than by a broadcast signal.
  • First computer

    The first modern electronic digital computer was called the Atanasoff–Berry computer, or ABC. The first mechanical computer, The Babbage Difference Engine, was designed by Charles Babbage in 1822. The ABC was the basis for the modern computer we all use today.
  • Period: to

    CONTEMPORARY

  • Transistor radios

    A semiconductor device with three connections, capable of amplification in addition to rectification.
  • Color movies

    A film for use in cameras that produces colored pictures.
  • Color TV

    Color television is a television transmission technology that includes information on the color of the picture, so the video image can be displayed in color on the television set.
  • VCR

    A videocassette recorder.
  • Artificial intelligence

    The theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.
  • Recording to tape

    An audio tape recorder, also known as a tape deck, tape player or tape machine or simply a tape recorder, is a sound recording and reproduction device that records and plays back sounds usually using magnetic tape for storage.
  • 1st satellite

    The first artificial satellite was Sputnik, a Russian beach-ball-size space probe that lifted off on Oct. 4, 1957.
  • Laser printers

    A printer linked to a computer producing good-quality printed material by using a laser to form a pattern of electrostatically charged dots on a light-sensitive drum, which attract toner (or dry ink powder). The toner is transferred to a piece of paper and fixed by a heating process.
  • GPS

    An accurate worldwide navigational and surveying facility based on the reception of signals from an array of orbiting satellites.
  • Cellular phones

    A phone with access to a cellular radio system so it can be used over a wide area, without a physical connection to a network.
  • Apple II computer

    The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products.
  • Email

    Messages distributed by electronic means from one computer user to one or more recipients via a network.
  • Autonomous vehicles

    One that can drive itself from a starting point to a predetermined destination in “autopilot” mode using various in-vehicle technologies and sensors, including adaptive cruise control, active steering (steer by wire), anti-lock braking systems (brake by wire), GPS navigation technology, lasers .
  • 3D printing

    The action or process of making a physical object from a three-dimensional digital model, typically by laying down many thin layers of a material in succession.
  • Internet

    A global computer network providing a variety of information and communication facilities, consisting of interconnected networks using standardized communication protocols.
  • MP3 player

    A device for playing MP3s or other digital audio files.
  • DVD players

    A stand-alone unit that plays DVDs. DVD players and "DVD drives" are both input devices; however, the "player" is a DVD source for a TV or home theater, whereas a "drive" is a peripheral device for a computer.
  • Youtube

    Upload a video of (someone or something) to the video-sharing website YouTube.
  • Iphone

    The iPhone is a smartphone made by Apple that combines a computer, iPod, digital camera and cellular phone into one device with a touchscreen interface.
  • Ipad

    A small computer.