Many innovations that have revolutionized society have been developed for military use and have later made their way into civilian society. The telegraph, telephone, and computer represent such technological innovations that have made this evolution, as does radio. In looking at the evolution of radio broadcasting from military to civilian use, we are able to see the reasons why such major technological innovations usually make such an evolution.
The invention of radio required many discoveries in electronics and other fields to actually produce radio broadcast, first used as the wireless telegraph before evolving into a communication device capable of sending messages simultaneously to different locations. The Fleming valve was used before the Edison vacuum tube in radio transmissions. The Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi is generally given credit with the invention of the radio. The Navy was the first to recognize the enormous potential of radio, and from the time it conducted tests on Marconi’s equipment it employed the use of radio broadcasts “The U.S. Navy began to equip its entire fleet with radio transmitters, and also set up an extensive chain of coastal stations. Radio was employed as an aid to civilian and military navigation. By 1908 the Navy was reporting that both warnings about sea obstructions, plus daily time signals, were being sent broadcast on regular schedules by its coastal stations” (White I; 1).
The military first used radio broadcast to ensure safety at sea. The enormous cost, complexity, and size of radio broadcast systems like the alternator-transmitter prevented widespread use of the radio for audio transmission. Further technological developments like the arc-transmitter, vacuum tubes, and other radio components began to make their use and size more practical. During these innovations in the early part of the 20th century, the military and electroni
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