Of course, one of the basic needs of most people is to contact one another. The first step towards answering this need and allowing a global network of people in different locations to communicate via technology, was the invention of the telephone. Officially designed by Alexander Graham Bell in the 1870s, the invention eventually revolutionised global interaction.
In recent years, it is the internet that has replaced the telephone as the primary tool for personal and business communication. Whereas the telephone was once the only device with which to achieve immediate contact, at the beginning of 2008, an estimated 65 per cent of the UK population had access to the internet, meaning there were now multiple ways for the majority of the population to communicate.
The global network allows individuals to send messages to one another via text, in the form of email or alternatively by using a message board on a social networking page.
Instant messaging, however, allows real-time text-based contact so users can speak to one another as quickly as they can type. In fact, instant messaging actually pre-dates the internet. It was first used on multi-user operating systems in the mid-1960s, but as computer networks continued to develop and become more widely-used, the technology’s applications also improved.
Indeed, the twenty-first century saw a huge leap forward in communicating via instant messaging, with the advent of Internet Protocol (IP) telephony. As such, broadband technology is used to transmit actual convesrations as data packets from one computer to another. In removing the need for typing, the system allows vocal conversation via digital media, making communication simpler and more organic for end users.
However, quite possibly the greatest benefit of making calls via instant messenger, is the fact that it is free. Due to the fact that the system utilises what the internet has to offer by connecting two users; therefore, calls are transferred without having to pay for the number of minutes or the distance over which the data is carried. And it is estimated that by 2009 there will be over 24 million users in the US alone.
The ability to make free calls is an option many are choosing to benefit from. And as that ability becomes more universal, other means of communication, such as mobile phones, are challenged. Although today’s technology may be a far cry from Alexander Graham Bell’s original communication device, it shares the same aim – to enable people to speak to other people and facilitate interaction.
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Adam Singleton writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.
