Page 94 - SST Class 04

Means of

21
Communication

Communication and I

We need to speak and send messages to several people daily. Earlier, it took a long time to

send messages, but now, science and technology have given us such means that we can do
it at any time and in a short time. A mobile phone has proven to be a wonder machine for
communication.

The means of communication can be rightly called the lifeline of a country. Science and
technology have played an important role in the development of several new means of
communication.
We can divide the means of communication into two classes : means of private

communication and means of mass communication .

Means of Private Communication

The means of communication that we use as a person are called the means of private
communication. Earlier, these means could be used one-to-one, that is, one person
could communicate with one person. But now, several of these means can be used to
send messages to a number of people at the same time.

The following are the important ones in this category :

Letter is an important one-to-one means of communication. It is a written message on a
paper. It can be sent through a post office. India possesses a very large network of post
offices all over India. We can send postcards, envelopes, inland letters, parcels and
money-orders through them.

At present, there also operate a few private courier companies
in towns and cities which carry letters and parcels.

Telephone is a very important means of communication. It is
the fastest means as a person can directly dial the number of a
person and talk to him. Telephone can be landline or mobile.

94 Contemporary Social Science-4