The Case for the Technological Comparison in Communication History

This article makes the case for a comparative approach to communication technologies throughout history, arguing that various types of comparisons could enrich both historical research and technology theorization. The article proposes a critical typology of five categories of comparison: The deterministic category compares the supposedly direct effects of major changes in communication technology; the all-encompassing category integrates technologies into wider evolving complexes where various technologies interact; the discursive category examines the utopian and dystopian discourses accompanying technological changes, and their power to shape technology; the deconstructing categpry contrasts distinct phases in the history of a supposedly singular technology; and the one-dimensional category focusses on a single social domain to see how it has been transformed by different technological changes.