While the history of technology can be traced along many lines, one of the most amazing development is that of photo technology, the technology of light.From the prehistoric invention of fire to laser beams   and fiber optics  , light has "continually occupied the minds of inventors".Their inventions fall into two groups: the use of light to help us see better and more interestingly, the use of light for purposes of communication. The use of light for communicating is one of the major directions that technology has taken ever since the middle of the nineteenth century.From still photography to motion pictures to television (with a development from black - and - white to color1 imagery in each), photo technology has had a great effect upon mass communication and mass education.Unlike the printed words, visual images have more impact because they are more immediate.They copy reality in a way that the printed words cannot.Unlike letter shapes, they are not abstract; unlike words, they require no symbolic interpretation by the mind.Combined with the widespread and uniform spreading of such images, photo technology affects the thinking of vast audiences and shapes their view of reality. Millions of Americans are affected by the commercially - inspired electronic manipulation   of artificial images.We call it "entertainment" and can't wait to get more. As the number of commercially available television channels grows, the viewer's freedom of choice increases, but so does the burden of that choice.Increasingly he is faced with a sea of in formation and is asked to make quick choices. More significantly, the ease and rapidity of mass communication has created a supply of information greater than it can readily be absorbed.Flooded in the sea of information, the individual struggles to swim through it. Why do visual images differ from the printed words? Because they   _  .
have much deeper meanings enable the viewer to use his imagination fully fail to produce a beneficial effect upon youngsters have a greater immediate influence upon the viewer