Oldest Forms of Media

“There is no such thing as old media and new media, just new tools for storytelling.”  Humans have always had the need to communicate with each other.  We have done this by using media, media that is often labeled old or new.  However if we look back on the past we can realize that there are many similarities. 

One of the oldest forms of media involves the use to birds.  The first instance of this was when Noah released a dove from the ark.  The goal of this was to see if there was any land after the great flood.  The first time the dove returned with nothing, however Noah did not give up hope.  The second time the dove returned with an olive branch.  This was not only a sign that there was land; it was also a signal from God.  As time progressed, pigeons became a common form of communication.  They could carry a message, strapped to their leg, for hundreds of miles.  This allowed people who did not like close to each other a means of communication.  Although the mediums have changed, people still have the need to remain in communication with people who are far away from them.  Many people accomplish this need today with Twitter.  You can log onto the computer, or often just click a button on your phone, type something and everyone who follows you will know what you said.  It is like sending a pigeon, although much faster, and much more reliable. 

The oldest form of media is word of mouth.  However, in the past in order to communicate with a person by word of mouth you needed to be face to face with them.  With the increase in technology, you can now call the person using a cell phone and be thousands of miles apart.  People are still communicating via word of mouth however the way in which they communicate has changed. 

The postal service used to, and to some extent still does allow people to remain in contract with one another.  Someone would write a message and then send it to the other person.  Today we have many different ways that we carry out this same concept.  The first way was through email.  You could write a person a message and send it through the internet.  This concept has evolved even more with the invention off texting.  Now you can write someone a message on your mobile device and send it to them.  This allows the message to arrive even faster.  The person can then respond to your message within seconds.