Due Wednesday, August 3 before class, 10:10am. Please submit your response online before 10:10am on Wednesday. The writer’s checklist clarifies the expectations surrounding written work assignments.
Choose one of the following:
1. In America Calling, Claude Fischer identifies the businessman as the Bell system’s target demographic. Compare this relatively restricted sense of Bell’s targeted demographic to the utopianism exhibited in the early days of the radio, as discussed in class. What factors contributed to such disparate attitudes toward wired/wireless communication?
2. Discuss the history and development of the telephone in relation to technological determinism or SCOT. Do one of these approaches seem particularly appropriate to the social history of the telephone that Fischer provides? Why or why not? Be specific.
Due August 3rd
Please include your full name and student number at the top of your document. You can submit your file in PDF, DOC or DOCX format using this upload tool:courses.ischool.berkeley.edu/upload/?s=i103
Please make sure that the file name of your submission follows the following format:
reading3_lastname_studentnumber.pdf
e.g.: reading3_suermondt_01234567.pdf
We won’t be able to find and grade your submission if you do not use this format.