It’s crazy how much media has changed over the years. This is a great media timeline. Here are a few of the main points: around the years of 3100 B.C. they had writings on tablets, in 600 B.C. they wrote on papyrus scrolls, and the Chinese paper didn’t arrive until 105 A.D. Then in 1455 the movable type is developed in Germany, and in 1907 regular radio broadcasts begin in the United States. Our textbook, Strategic Media Decisions by Marian Azzaro, states that “Radio was the undisputed king of media” by 1930. This is when radio became so popular, and direct advertising started. One advantage of the radio is that you can listen to it all the time, in your house and in your car. Radio is always there, which is great for advertisers. Fast forward to modern time and everything is digital! People send emails instead of writing letters. We went from a time without paper to a time where everything is digital. Can you imagine having to carve your words into a stone or clay tablet? I can’t! Today we have digital tablets that can do just about as much as a laptop! It’s hard to imagine life without the technology that we have today. We sure have come a long way! 

Here is a brief video of the changes in media! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=japd126Nx1Y

My generation is so used to having our phone with us all the time, which today is practically a computer, gaming system and phone all in one. Our phones can access so many medium not to mention the media we get from our TV, computer, magazines, newspapers and more!

It is insane how much media we consume each day! Here is a site that has more detail on our media consumption.  Americans consumed 1.27 trillion hours of media in 2008, says a study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego. Wow! When you think about it, we really do see media everywhere we go. You get in your car and you’ve got the radio, billboards, and more. Then you’ve got posters, commercials on TV and ads on the internet. The media is everywhere!