In “How are Media Born” by Brian Winston, Winston attempts to answer a specific question: “How does technological change occur in communication mass (766)? " To give possible answers to this question, Winston presents us with two methods of historical accounting that describe different techniques of how technologies and media find their way into the ethics of society. The first of these methods is technological determinism, defined by Winston as a style of historical documentation in which “technology is the dominant and determining factor in the process (766).” Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get an original essay In other words, technology is the autonomous engine that drives society towards new media cultural determinism, defined as a style of historical documentation in which “technology is but one of many forces, influencing and influencing social, social, and cultural developments (766)” In other words, many different variables influence evolution of societies in the world of media. The importance of determining what drives humanity to accept new media is enormous as we can learn what factors drive society to continue to revolutionize the world's technology , we need to compare and contrast the different techniques of historical documentation. Winston describes both methods by providing examples of both types of historical reporting. I will begin with a summary of Winston's technological determinist account “Case 1: Film Screening.” Winston chronologically reviews the diverse contributions of important men to the media of motion pictures, from 1555 with Della Porta's invention of a simple camera to 1895 with Edison's production of the kinetoscope (767). He then addresses the flaws of this type of historical thinking, stating that this type of account is driven by the need to create "great men" who are seen as monumental figures, as well as being driven by the idea of ​​patriotism (since the account would list the country of origin of men after his name). This type of thinking leads to a narrow view of history, since it seems that the only force driving new technology is a relatively few ingenious men, when in reality many social factors and “collective inventiveness” were also determining factors. The main problem with this history of cinema determined by technological determinists is that we are simply given the dates and works of great men, but we learn nothing about why these men invented what they did, or why society thought their invention worth using. Winston acknowledges the fact that the first technological determinist paper had a simple form and provides a more sophisticated account through “Case 2: Sound in Film.” Winston analyzes the development of sound through several technological advances and we are introduced to some external factors. We are told that "The application of this technology (amplification of electrical signals) to silent cinema was interrupted by World War I, but experiments continued using various systems (790)." So we are starting to delve into how external forces can delay or accelerate the development of new technologies, but this account still paints technology as autonomous from society, since technological breakthroughs “can be delayed by external factors, such as World War I and industrial inertia. But in the end technology triumphs (790).” which implies that society and technology follow separate paths. Furthermore,.