Call for papers

The Winter 2001 issue of Convergence (vol. 7, no. 4) will be
devoted to the theme of an historical approach to
understanding the future adoption and diffusion of new media
technologies. 

‘Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat
it’ George Santayana, 1863-1952

o    History of the Future of New Media

The study of new media as a specialization within mass
communication began to take root with the advent of
satellite distribution of television signals and the
resultant explosion in new video channels. Established
models of mass communication included the ‘broadcast’ of
messages from a media source (whether print or electronic)
to a generally heterogeneous audience with limited (if any)
direct feedback from that audience. The infusion of
computer-mediated communication, interactive systems that
connected receiver to sender, and the emergence of the
World-Wide Web have challenged the traditional view of mass
communication. Other ‘point-to-point’ communication
technologies such as  fax machines, cellular telephones and
pages have also had a dramatic impact on peopleís daily
lives. 

o    Understanding New Media From an Historical Perspective

Anyone predicting the media landscape in 1960 from the
vantage point of 1955 would have had relatively little
difficulty in making accurate forecasts. The same can not be
said for a forecaster in the year 2000 looking 5 years down
the road. While new media become the focus of scholarly
investigation generally after the medium is well
established, not all new media survive in the marketplace.
Examples include CBS’s Field Sequential Color Television
System (rejected by the FCC but taken to the moon by the
Apollo missions), AT&T’s PicturePhone, over-the-air
subscription television, analog DBS, Qube interactive cable
television, quadraphonic sound, CB radio, teletext,
videotex, RCA’s CED videodisc player and AM stereo. What
were proponents (direct advocates for the technologies),
competitive critics (those who wished to protect an
alternative technology), and objective observers (those with
no apparent stake in the adoption and diffusion of the
technology) saying about these new media? Original case
study manuscripts of one or more of these technologies are
especially encouraged.

o    Theories of New Media Adoption and Diffusion

Are there any inevitabilities in the adoption and diffusion
of new media? Were radio and television destined for mass
adoption? Was it predictable that the World-Wide Web in the
United States would quickly become a new medium dominated by
commercially sponsored content? Would changes in political
(including regulatory and policy concerns), economic, or
technological factors have altered the course of media
development? Based on what we know about how new media have
evolved in the past, can we create theoretical constructs
from which we can better understand the future of new media
today? 

o    New Media Visionaries

Finally, some visionaries seem to be able to see the future
of media technologies. One of the most commonly cited
visionaries of the hypertext age has been Vanevar Bush,
Harry Truman’s Director of the Office of Scientific Research
and Development. (Arthur C. Clark, J.C.R. Licklider,
Nicholas Negroponte and Daniel Bell are more authors who may
be considered visionaries for new communication technologies
and their social impact.) What other historical examples
exist of insightful visions of the future of communication
technology exist? What can we learn from these visions and
the visionaries? 

Submissions are welcomed relating to the history of the
future of new media technologies and services (eg Carolyn
Marvin, 1988, Ithiel de Sola Pool, 1983) from theoretical,
historical, economic, and policy perspectives as well as
retrospective technology assessment. Original works that
analyze the actual writings of the future of existing or
previous communication technologies are sought.

Copy deadline for refereed research articles: 30 April 2001.

All proposals, inquiries and submissions for this special
issue to: 

Bruce C. Klopfenstein
Professor of Telecommunications, Department of
Telecommunications, 320 West Hall, Bowling Green State
University, Bowling Green, OH 43403 USA. Web:
www.luton.ac.uk/Convergence, e-mail:
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