At this special time of year, many people look forward to spending quality time with their family, friends and other loved ones, sharing family stories, preparing sumptuous meals, exchanging gifts and, in general, following their faith. The technology of communication, it seems, may have impacted these holiday gatherings as much as many other human activities. And, since I am not an engineer or professor, it is not my intention to document the smallest details of the evolution of communication technology, but, rather, to share a few of my personal observations.
Up until two hundred years ago, when someone couldn't be with their family for the holidays, their only resort to share their feelings with them was to write letters to those who were at home (see American Civil War photo, below). Letters would sometimes take weeks to deliver, especially families living in snowier climates at that time of year. Among the numerous technological developments born out of the industrial revolution, the telegraph gave people the opportunity to send their messages almost instantly across states and nations (see telegram scene from It's a Wonderful Life, above). Yet, telegraphers were still few and far between, and the transmitted messages had to be interpreted, written out and still physically delivered to the re
cipients.
Shortly thereafter, the invention of the telephone exchange allowed large numbers of people to make immediate and direct connections during the holidays. Phone conversations, albeit relatively short and limited to audio, allowed for conversations between family members who were hundreds or thousands of miles apart. While telephones got better and better over the next century, very little about long-distance communication changed significantly until the public advent of the home computer and the Internet in the early 1980s.
These developments ushered in email and other forms of network communication, which allowed people to send messages and artwork in the form of attached photos, scans and computer designs. Some messages even included recorded audio messages that could be played by the recipient. The race to miniaturize electronics for the home computer industry also led to the worldwide boom in mobile telephony, allowing users to share holiday conversations from almost any imaginable location, as long as it had sufficient “bars.”
These inventions laid the foundation for numerous communications achievements that would draw people together in much richer and more meaningful ways – videoconferencing, voice-over-IP services and social media – all of which have impacted the way people communicate during the holidays.
Powerful social media platforms, like Facebook, Pinterest and Google Hangout, allow the traveler, student or soldier to send messages and artwork to friends and family during this or any other time of year.
While videoconferencing is more prevalent in business and education environments, related home-use video services, such as Skype, allows for distant loved ones to communicate both audibly and visually from laptops and other devices around the planet. This year, hundreds of thousands of people will use these technologies to hold virtual family gatherings during the holidays, probably most prominently among military families (see video call photo, below). Stories abound on the Internet, showing family members attending weddings and other family events via video-calling. And now, combinations of these platfor
ms are becoming increasingly popular, as Google Hangouts, for instance, brings together instant messaging and video chat to allow families to see, talk with and share comments with distant kinfolk.
Technology is not only marching on, but accelerating, and most of us will discover many fascinating new ways in which it will impact our holidays in the years to come. Will it continue to bring us closer, or will it allow us to travel further away from each other? Will innovations incorporate the senses of smell and touch; isn’t it hard to imagine that the smell of warm cookies and squeeze of Grandma's hugs can be replicated? Will the technology continue to evolve to an even more universal medium, with simple and unfettered access for young and old, rich and poor, simple and sophisticated? How will your great, great, great grandchildren greet each other at holidays a century from now?
