According to MOO, an online print shop, the following infographic depicts the evolution of sharing and communication from cave paintings,France, 30,000 BC through Pictograms of China and Egypt – 500 BC; Carrier Pidgeons, Greece – 776 BC; First Postal Service, Persia – 550 BC; The Marathon Man, Greece – 530 BC; Heliographs, Rome – 37 AD; Paper, China – 105 AD, Town Crier/Bellmen, The UK – 1540 AD; Daily Newspaper, Germany – 1650 AD; Morse Code, The USA – 1835 AD; Telephone, The USA – 1876 AD; First Transaltlantic Signal, Cornwall to Newfoundland – 1902 AD; 1st TV broadcast, Great Britain – 1927 AD; ARPANET Launched, The USA – 1969 AD; WWW, USA – 1994 AD; AIM, USA – 1997 AD, Blogging, USA – 1999 AD; Facebook, USA – 2004 AD, Youtube, USA – 2005 AD; to Twitter, USA – 2006 AD.
I would argue that marketplaces belong somewhere on that list, and today still serve as major networking centers in villages and towns across Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia.
Click the image to see the full version on Moo.com
