Entry 7 - The Laws of Media

The Telephone

1. The telephone acts to extend and enhance the human experience of listening, and talking. Verbal communication. The function of this technology is to connect people verbally even from long distances when they cannot speak face to face. It extends the function of the ears and mouth, and along with that the sense of hearing. It augments the human action of communication, and extends the individual and connects society.

2. The telephone mostly made telegraphs obsolete. In some senses it also made writing letters obsolete or more unnecessary as well. It bypasses the need to travel to talk to someone. The telegraph mostly becomes an object of nostalgia.

3. Mostly the archaic method of sending letters is used formally, or for fun.

4. The medium of the telephone when fully realized will in turn make people communicate less because they depend on a device in order to communicate. Texting gets integrated and calling becomes a hassle. Vocal communication starts to become an extreme, and overall it begins to become obsolete all together. Canceling out the main function of the device.

In conclusion the telephone was meant to bring people who are distant together verbally. However the telephone today has changed to the point where communicating verbally with it is many times not considered necessary.