Communication Technology Update and Fundamentals: 12th Edition

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Communications Technology Update Cover

Since 1992, the most up-to-date book on communication technologies!!

Editors:

August E. Grant, Associate Professor, College of Mass Communications and Information Studies, University of South Carolina.
Jennifer H. Meadows, Associate Professor, Media Arts Option, Department of Communication Design, California State University, Chico.

In association with Technology Futures, Inc.

Companion Website for Recent Developments


Description [back to top]

Now that we have entered the 21st century, we see new communication technologies being introduced at an astonishing rate. Making sense of these technologies is increasingly difficult. Communication Technology Update and Fundamentals is the single best source for the latest developments, trends, and issues in communication technology. In addition, the book now has a Companion Website offering updated information on the technologies covered in this text, and it offers links to other Internet resources. Now in its 12th edition, Communication Technology Update and Fundamentals has become an indispensable information resource for business, government, and academia.

New to the 12th edition:

  • A major shift in emphasis from a supplemental book to a comprehensive core textbook for the course
  • New chapter on Cinema Technologies
  • New chapter on Digital Signage
  • New chapter on Social Networking
  • A sidebar discussing sustainability issues related to each technology
  • A companion site that will be updated every time a new technology hits the news
  • New content on mobile and personal computing, digital photography, digital television, and electronic games

Communication Technology Update and Fundamentals provides students and professionals alike with the latest information in all areas of telecommunication: electronic mass media, computers, consumer electronics, games, satellites, and telephony. A discussion of hardware, software, organizations structure, and political and economic influences is complemented by background information explaining the evolution of each of the technologies. As with the earlier editions, each chapter has been re-written to reflect and integrate the latest developments and market statistics. In addition, the authors have expanded their coverage of industry structure and regulation, history, and theory

What Readers Say About Communication Technology Update [back to top]

"Thorough and up-to-date, yet concise enough to allow students to quickly grasp the essential elements of a host of interrelated communications technologies."
--David Gunzerath, Dept. of Communications and Theater Arts, Old Dominion University
Communications Technology Update and Fundamentals is the best broad-based book for exposing students to the many subtleties of Information Technology (IT). This work fills a void that once required many texts and sources to fill. Staying knowledgeable and current in IT is like painting a moving train, and this book is a fabulous effort that brings the reader into the present."
--Joseph Screnci, School of Communications, Hawaii Pacific University.

Table of Contents [back to top]

Section I: Fundamentals
Chapter 1: Introduction to Communication Technologies, August E. Grant, Ph.D.
Chapter 2: Historical Perspectives on Communication Technology, Dan Brown, Ph.D.
Chapter 3: Understanding Communication Technologies, Jennifer H. Meadows, Ph.D.
Chapter 4: The Structure of the Communication Industries, August E. Grant, Ph.D.
Chapter 5: Communication Policy & Technology, Lon Berquist, M.A.
Section II: Electronic Mass Media
Chapter 6: Digital Television & Video, Peter B. Seel, Ph.D. & Michel Dupagne, Ph.D.
Chapter 7: Multichannel Television Services, Jennifer H. Meadows, Ph.D.
Chapter 8: IPTV: Streaming Media, Jeffrey S. Wilkinson, Ph.D.
Chapter 9: Interactive Television, Cheryl D. Harris, Ph.D.
Chapter 10: Radio Broadcasting, Gregory Pitts, Ph.D.
Chapter 11: Digital Signage, Janet Kolodzy, M.S.J.
Chapter 12: Cinema Technologies, Jillian Neal, Stephanie Warren, & Natasha Whitling
Section III: Computers & Consumer Electronics
Chapter 13: Personal Computers, Chris Roberts, Ph.D.
Chapter 14: Video Games, Brant Guillory, M.M.C.
Chapter 15: Home Video, Steven J. Dick, Ph.D.
Chapter 16: Digital Audio, Ted Carlin, Ph.D.
Chapter 17: Digital Imaging & Photography, Michael Scott Sheerin, M.S.
Section IV: Networking Technologies
Chapter 18: Telephony, Jack Karlis, M.A.M.C. & Matthew Telleen, J.D.
Chapter 19: The Internet, Tim Brown, Ph.D. & Heather Halter, B.A.
Chapter 20: Social Networking, Rachel A. Sauerbier
Chapter 21: Broadband & Home Networks, John J. Lombardi, Ph.D. with Jennifer H.
Meadows, Ph.D.
Chapter 22: Telepresence, Michael R. Ogden, Ph.D. & Steve Jackson, M.A.
Section V: Conclusions
Chapter 23: Conclusions…& the Future, August E. Grant, Ph.D.

Companion Website [back to top]

Communication Technology Update and Fundamentals now offers a Companion Website which provides updated information on the technologies covered in this text, and links to other Internet resources!

Pricing/Ordering Information [back to top]

Published by Focal Press, an imprint of Elsevier.
June 2010, Bound Soft Cover, 344 pages, ISBN 978-0-240-81475-9

US $40.98

Call for volume discounts. For academic adoption, contact Focal Press at (800) 366-2665 or visit www.focalpress.com.

 


What Readers Say

"Thorough and up-to-date, yet concise enough to allow students
to quickly grasp the essential elements of a host of interrelated communications
technologies."


David Gunzerath
Dept. of Communications and Theater Arts,
Old Dominion University


"Communications Technology Update and Fundamentals is the best broad-based book for exposing students to the many subtleties of Information Technology (IT). This work fills a void that once required many texts and sources to fill. Staying knowledgeable and current in IT is like painting a moving train, and this book is a fabulous effort that brings the reader into the present.quot;

Joseph Screnci
School of Communications, Hawaii Pacific University