The Crystal Radio
The Crystal Radio: An Inexpensive Form of Mass Communication Christopher Manxhari Massachusetts Academy of Math & Science at Worcester Polytechnic Institute Manxhari 1 Introduction Technology has always been developing, and with it so have methods and access to communication. One such example is the internet, which has been rapidly growing in the past years. Yet, despite all of these advancements, there is still a large population that lacks internet. During distraught times, such as the coronavirus pandemic, having access to information is important, but not everyone is able to access urgent information. Roughly 10% of the United States population does not have access to the internet (Anderson, Perrin, Jiang, & Kumar, 2020). This proportion translates to over 30 million United States citizens, which is quite a substantial population size. In fact, there appears to be a correlation between income level and the proportion of those in a certain economic bracket that have internet. At an annual income of less than $30,000, 18% of citizens lack access to the internet. Withal, 7% of those making between $30,000 and $50,000 annually, 3% of those making $50,000 to $75,000 annually, and 2% of those making anything upwards annually lack that access (Anderson et al., 2020). See Figure 1 for more data on the demographics of those using the internet. It is evident that one’s income level is positively correlated with higher frequencies of internet usage. The internet is but one of many mediums of mass communication, and it is certainly one dominating form. As of 2018, roughly 41% of U.S.
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