Monday, January 19, 2015

Communications Technologies

Sadly, I haven't been doing any real programming yet with my little project here. I have been spending my time collecting resources to making my task easier and more directed. I have been reflecting on where computer science fits into a typical human experience, and how it belongs to a broader curriculum of a well-rounded education.
I had originally thought that the purpose of computers was primarily to do math problems, and that it was only incidental that people started using the connected computer networks to engage in conversation across stations. Looking at the history of computer science, it is indeed in the math departments where it first made headway. But the first computer that came into being was a result of the need to break codes in WW2. So, while it is true that computers have applications in almost every human endeavor, I have decided to treat the primary purpose of computer science being that of communications. And it actually is the primary use to which it is put outside of specialty applications.
So I will continue to look in that direction, embedding computer science in of the history of communications technologies from the advent of the spoken word, to writing, to type, to moveable type, including radio and ham operators, morse code, television, etc.

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