Review: The Victorian Internet
Redaktioneller Bericht - Kirkus ReviewsThe telegraph, which now seems a curious relic, was once cutting-edge technology, every bit as hot, Standage reminds us, as today's Internet. Rapid delivery of messages to distant places was a wild dream for most of history; only on the eve of the French Revolution did a workable system come into existence. That first mechanical telegraph used visual signals relayed along a series of towers; but already scientists had experimented with signaling with electricity, which was thought to travel instantaneously. By the 1830s, Samuel Morse in the US and William Cooke in England had independently developed workable electric telegraphs. Curiously, neither had much initial luck finding backers. Morse's first demonstration of his device to Congress drew no support; even after a second demonstration won him funding, many congressmen believed they had seen a conjuring trick. Despite some dramatic successes--aswhen British police wired ahead of felons escaping by train and had them arrested in a distant city--it was some time before the telegraph was more than a high-tech toy. But by the mid-1840s, both British and American telegraphy companies were showing profits, and by the end of that decade, growth was explosive. And by then, the elaborate culture of the telegraph system was taking shape. Telegraph operators and messenger boys became familiar parts of the social landscape. There was a growth industry in telegraph-based jokes, anecdotes, seams, and even superstitions. The charge per word transmitted made messages terse; the expense made most people use them only to report deaths in the family or other grave news. Technical improvements--notably in the laying of submarine cables--eventually led to a worldwide network. Standage, most recently (and suitably) editor of the London Daily Telegraph's technology section, competently relates all this, and the eventual erosion of the telegraph's power by the telephone--which was at first seen merely as an improvement in the telegraph. A fascinating overview of a once world-shaking invention and its impact on society. Recommended to fans of scientific history.
Review: The Victorian Internet
Nutzerbericht - Philip - GoodreadsAfter reading a number of the reviews I am prone to think that a number of people missed the larger point. For all of the hyping of the internet in the mid to late 90's, it wasn't as drastic a change ... Vollständige Rezension lesen
Review: The Victorian Internet
Nutzerbericht - Converse - GoodreadsOn-line wedding are old news. They were first done via electrical telegraph. This is one of the many parallel between the internet and one of the oldest telecommunications technologies. The changes ... Vollständige Rezension lesen
Review: The Victorian Internet
Nutzerbericht - Rachel - GoodreadsAn excellent overview of the challenges of communication only recently overcome - as the author points out, both Julius Caesar and George Washington, despite living centuries apart, were limited by ... Vollständige Rezension lesen
Review: The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century's On-Line Pioneers
Nutzerbericht - Jacqueline O. - GoodreadsI loved this book! I highly, highly recommend it. The Victorian Internet is an excellent history of the telegraph. But it is not simply a fact-and-name filled book of inventions and advances. It's a ... Vollständige Rezension lesen
Review: The Victorian Internet
Nutzerbericht - Brian - GoodreadsLoved this book. Anyone who is interested in the future of journalism should read this. We can learn a lot from history. Vollständige Rezension lesen
Review: The Victorian Internet
Nutzerbericht - Adam Wiggins - GoodreadsFun read about the heyday of the electric telegraph (circa 1850 - 1880). Tidbits: - The original telegraph system was visual, not electric. Towers were built on tall hills that signaled each other and ... Vollständige Rezension lesen
Review: The Victorian Internet
Nutzerbericht - John Dodds - GoodreadsA gripping story of invention and innovation in the 19th century. Two things particularly struck me: (a) that the initial experiments with the electric telegraph were much earlier than I had imagined ... Vollständige Rezension lesen
Review: The Victorian Internet
Nutzerbericht - Doc Kinne - GoodreadsThe book was good, and largely lived up to its billing, but in the end I liked "The Telegraph: A History of Morse's Invention and Its Predecessors in the United States" better. While the thrust of the ... Vollständige Rezension lesen
Review: The Victorian Internet
Nutzerbericht - Randi - GoodreadsI'd probably have to give this 3.5 stars, but I'm feeing generous with four. This was a great little history, and even if you're not a technology geek, Standage presents the information in a way that ... Vollständige Rezension lesen
