== Ronell on Thomas Watson ==

== Ronell on Thomas Watson ==

When I first read this essay, I kind of laughed at the idea of the telephone belonging to the "spirit world."  But after thinking about it a bit, I can understand why this assumption could be made about the telephone when it was first created.  This was an invention that allowed people to communicate vocally instantaneously.  It was almost like magic, or as Ronell said, like male witchcraft.  It's hard to think of these inventions as something so new and mystifying because we're a population that can't imagine life without the telephone.  But I guess for people who never experienced something like this before it had to be amazing and almost miraculous.  Ronell may have seemed crazy in his little tirade, but I'm sure he wasn't alone in his thinking.  -Kelly W.

'''When I first read this essay, I kind of laughed at the idea of the telephone belonging to the "spirit world."''' But after thinking about it a bit, I can understand why this assumption could be made about the telephone when it was first created.  This was an invention that allowed people to communicate vocally instantaneously.  It was almost like magic, or as Ronell said, like male witchcraft.  It's hard to think of these inventions as something so new and mystifying because we're a population that can't imagine life without the telephone.  But I guess for people who never experienced something like this before it had to be amazing and almost miraculous.  Ronell may have seemed crazy in his little tirade, but I'm sure he wasn't alone in his thinking.  -Kelly W.

I'm with you on this Kelly, I have been trying to take the non technological determinism way of thinking... not only were there alternatives and many trials and errors before technologies were chosen and put to use/produced etc., there was a great deal of mystery behind new technology. While Ronnell does seem to be a little wacked out (in my opinion), it does make perfect sense that the new technology of the telephone would be hard to comprehend from the get go - hearing voices of people that weren't in proximity became a skill that not only the crazies could acquire. --Elle

I'm with you on this Kelly, I have been trying to take the non technological determinism way of thinking... not only were there alternatives and many trials and errors before technologies were chosen and put to use/produced etc., '''there was a great deal of mystery behind new technology'''. While Ronnell does seem to be a little wacked out (in my opinion), it does make perfect sense that the new technology of the telephone would be hard to comprehend from the get go - hearing voices of people that weren't in proximity became a skill that not only the crazies could acquire. --Elle