What time is it? History and typology of time signals from the telegraph to the digital

Rikitianskaia, Maria and Balbi, Gabriele (2021) What time is it? History and typology of time signals from the telegraph to the digital. International Journal of Communication, 15. 1513 - 1530. ISSN 1932-8036

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Abstract

Time signals provide a sense of “despatialized simultaneity,” a rhythm to the everyday lives of billions of people, and experiences of liveness. This article offers a history of time signals from the 19th to the 21st centuries, identifying three typologies: scheduled time signals, sent mainly by radio and TV; on-demand, such as those of the speaking clock; and automatized, transmitted by the Network Time Protocol for digital devices. The article stresses the importance of time signals in media history and the significance of an infrastructural network of timekeeping/timesharing for the functioning of media themselves.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc
Additional Information:	© 2021 The Authors
Divisions:	Media and Communications
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HM Sociology P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN1990 Broadcasting H Social Sciences > HE Transportation and Communications
Date Deposited:	26 Apr 2022 13:18
Last Modified:	12 Dec 2024 02:59
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/114961

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