Remember- "Culture neither changes in quantum jumps, nor simultaneously across a whole society. Rather change- and particularly cultural change- occurs slowly, partially, at different rates for different groups and individuals, and in different forms. Particular groups and individuals attempt to incorporate, interpret, and go beyond new situations which are imposed upon them, or which they themselves have created. Some are more successful than others." Paul Rabinow, Anthropologist.

I. Oral (3 million - 3500 bce)

• Era includes dance, costume, crafts, music and many art forms.
• How is culture transmitted & stored between generations, and between communities?
• Language, tools, strategies developments influence one other.
• From scavengers; to hunters/gatherers; to farming/livestock; to cities & trade networks

IIa. (Hand) Written I- Glyph (3500 bce- 750 bce approx.)

• Used in commerce, then government, & only later in religion. Sumerians and clay.
• Those with access to writing gain power; rise of the power of the scribe and the bureaucrat; scribe/mandarin still must get power from existing 'state' structures.
• Beginning of 'history.' Told by those who write it. Accumulating info resources.

IIb. (Hand) Written II- Alphabetic (750 bce- 1450 ce approx.)

• Many writing systems without vowels- Greeks add vowels to perfect efficient system
• Allows for 'democratization'? Because easier to learn system, to learn new words
• Still Greeks/Romans depend on slave and indentured labor
• Development of cultures with international literary/business languages (Latin, Greek, Arabic, Pakrit, Chinese), highly local subcultures, scarce books to be memorized to feed a vibrant oral culture, technological experimentation but with slow development.

IIIa. Typographic I (1450-1830 ce.)

• Chinese/Korean xylographic printing of whole pages predates Gutenberg, some individual character printing but no Chinese alphabet to work with.
• Moveable type and printing press changes not only availability but the control of texts. Ongoing decline of transnational church/scholars and decline of highly local with the emergence of the new centrally organized 'homogenous' nation-state.
• Printing of scientific tables, images, diagrams key developments; business tables .
• Rise of mass media, literacy, improved mail, newspapers- national 'languages'

IIIb. Typographic II (1830-1980s)- Era of Mass Media

• Penny paper- rise of advertiser supported distribution paradigm- maximize audience
• Steam Driven Cylindrical Presses- industrial strength printing (1830s)
• Rise of photography to replace time consuming etching- leads to movies
• Central production or broadcast to masses: Film, Radio, TV, Publishing
• Control the distribution points and you can get 'control'/influence content

IVa. Electronic I (1840s-1940s) - Telegraph

• Telegraph separates transportation and communication- 'erases space'
• Telegraph gives power to the center, encourages hierarchy- only a human 'switch'
• Telegraph allows movement to outskirts; allow global coordination
• Messages become 'information'- short, needing context, irrelevant?

IVb. Electronic II (1940s-present) - Computers and Digital Integration

• Digital as universal language; 'smart, automatic switches' analyze patterns
• Analog only stores and reproduces; harder to manipulate
• Intelligent switches know about the state of the network, undermine hierarchy
• Decentralized local info economy; economies of scale for global material economy - two distinct information developing in conflict with each other
• Decline of mass media; problems of surveillance; ad hoc and dynamic organization
• 21st Century convergence of Biology/Neurology, Complex (Eco)Systems, & Computer Network/Switch/Software Design and Understanding.