2002
Comparisons were drawn between the development of television in the 20th century
and the diffusion of printing in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Yet much had happened (1) between.
As was discussed before,
it was not (2) until the 19th century that the newspaper became the dominant pre-electronic (3) medium,
following in the wake of the pamphlet and the book and in the (4) company of the periodical.
It was during the same time that the communications revolution (5) speeded up,
beginning with transport, the railway,
and leading (6) on through the telegraph,the telephone, radio,
and motion pictures (7) into the 20th-century world of the motor car and the airplane.
Not everyone sees that process in (8) perspective.
It is important to do so.
It is generally recognized, (9) however,
that the introduction of the computer in the early 20th century,
(10) followed by the invention of the integrated circuit during the 1960s,
radically changed the process,
(11) although its impact on the media was not immediately (12) apparent.
As time went by, computers became smaller and more powerful,
and they became "personal" too,
as well as (13) institutional,
with display becoming sharper and storage (14) capacity increasing.
They were thought of, like people, (15) in terms of generations,
with the distance between generations much (16)smaller.
It was within the computer age that the term "information society" began to be widely used
to describethe (17) context within which we now live.
The communications revolution has (18) influenced both work and leisure
and how we think and feel both about place and time,
but there have been (19) controversial views about its economic, political, social and cultural implications.
"Benefits" have been weighed (20) against "harmful" outcomes.
And generalizations have proved difficult.
