Week 2 a.k.a. Some Things Live, Some Things Don't

Today we can't imagine our lives without the Internet. Our smartphones, our laptops, watches, TVs and even fridges and microwave ovens are connected to it. But the fact is, the Internet was not always around - there were dark times, when people had to go out to communicate with each other, get newspapers and pay their bills. However, some technology was still around and believe it or not, there are technology pieces from pre-Internet era that are still in use nowadays. And there are also things that became extinct and vanished. This is Week 2 of SPEAIT2021K course and I would like to tell you about one thing from 80-s that is still in use today and one that is not.

1. E-Mail

Modern world can't be pictured without e-mail. Through the years, digital mailboxes became an essential thing and partially replaced traditional mail. It doesn't matter whether you are world-class sportsman, proud owner of five dogs or 11 year-old crybaby - everyone needs an e-mail address.

In 1965, program named MAILBOX was witten in MIT. Students could leave messages for each other on a computer and see them on the next log-in. However, it does not count as a fully functional e-mail system, since all users had to use the same machine.

First e-mail in its traditional meaning was sent in 1971 by Ray Tomlinson on ARPANET. The concept of communication between different computers via electronic letters turned out to be successful, the idea spread out and the rest is history.

2. Portable cassette players

The history of pagers begins either in 1921, when first radio-equipped police cars were used by the Detroit Police Department, in 1949, when first telephone pager devices were patented and used by police officers, firefighters and hospitals, or in 1959, when Motorolla started mass-producing and selling radio-communication products called pagers.

However, pagers gained real popularity in the 80s, when having a pager was a symbol of status. In 1980, there were approximately 3.2 millions pager users worldwide and the number began to grow, resulting in over than 60 million pagers in use by 1994. But then cellphones took over the market and pagers became nearly extinct...

...Nearly, since as of early 2021, there are still around 2 million pagers in use. Due to extreme reliability and instantaneous message delivery, pagers are being used in fields, where cellural networks are not enough.

Sources

• https://phrasee.co/blog/a-brief-history-of-email/
• https://hub.tmlt.org/tmlt-blog/communication-gadgets-then-and-now/
• https://www.spok.com/blog/throwback-thursday-history-pagers/
• https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-pagers-and-beepers-1992315/