I don't know anything!

I have become quite convinced that I do not know anything.

First of all, I did not know I was supposed to write my first post about the 19th Century or about Control, for the simple fact that the wiki did not say to do so until after I had written my first post.

Second of all, I do not know a whole lot about the technology of the 19th century yet, or the controls placed on it, but I will share what I do know so far.

While they did not have the same types of media in the 1800s that we do now, the people of the 19th century still had a big boom of inventions in their time, and were still able to be digitally civilized or not depending on how they adapted to those inventions. The first electric battery was created in 1800, and a number of other inventions followed in that century, such as primitive television, electric lighting, telephones, and phonographs.

My family, interested in old as well as new technology, owns an early phonograph that, while probably manufactured shortly after the turn of the century, operates on the same principle as an 1800s phonograph. It is interesting seeing it stand in the kitchen next to our iHome, because while their technological level and functions are different, they both have the same purpose. However, the phonograph is so much simpler - it never needs to be recharged, or synced with a computer, and it did not come with pages of fine print, terms of agreement, or warnings about the legal implications of musical piracy. Back when it was created, the only real control placed upon it was the natural control of whether or not you could afford to buy new needles for it.

As technology has expanded from what was found in the 1800s, the controls placed on it have also grown. While new technology continues to get fancier and more complex, the old technology has not been completely effaced - rather, it has been built upon, and the foundations are still there. I think those who laugh at old, scratchy and primitive technology are forgetting that the technology we have now would not be existent without the antiquated technology of times past.

Well, to conclude this post, I'm going to share a bit of an old black-and-white movie that, while made in the mid-1900s, tells a story from the 1800s and uses technology that would not have been possible without the technological foundations that were laid in the century preceding it. It would also not be possible without YouTube - a marvel from this century that builds on the things of the past to make them still usable for us.

Go to 2:38. Enough said.