Economic and Social Impacts of I.T. 1

The Telegraph: How Innovation caused Social Change - Annteresa Lubrano,1997

Week 3: How revolutionary is IT ?

The Victorian Internet :The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century’s On-line Pioneers- Tom Standage, 1998

Insights from

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The Telegraph Story

• Origin The need for communication The invention and refinements• Diffusion into society, culture, literature....• Impact

on government, transport and business

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ORIGIN:• Motivation:

-16th century rumour on sympathetic needles -Jean Nollet’s experiment in 1746 -1753- C.M (anonymous) proposed an electric telegraph -Claude Chappe’s optical telegraph in 1791 -George Murray’s shutter telegraph in 1793 -1816-Francis Ronald’s first woking electric model

• Further innovation: -Early 1800s- batteries, electromagnetism, galvanometer -1830s- Cooke’s 3 and 5 needle telegraphs in England and

Morse’s telegraph in Washington

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DIFFUSION:• Prototyping =easy ; People =difficult • Initially regarded as black magic• 1840s –First line from Washington to Baltimore with funds from the

congress• 1850s-Gradually expansions (intra-continent) as it gained acceptance

into the society.Hailed as the modern invention of science. • Too much trafficSteam powered pneumatic tubes• Undersea telegraphy- London to Paris, 1852• Exploring Trans-atlantic telegraph- 4 failures later, America finally

connected with Europe in Aug. 1858- BUT ONLY FOR A MONTH !• 1866- Permanent link re-establised under able guidance of William

Thompson

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DIFFUSION:• Telgraph and the common man : The good side:• New employment avenues -->skilled jobs• Technology Feminization (Ms.Sara Bagley,1846)• Social Networking –chatting, playing games, love affairs, online weddings • Manuals and pamplets and literature published on telegraphy-words like semaphore, teletype, telegraphery

(an office) enter vocabularyThe bad side:• Hackers and cryptoanalysts: bank frauds, horse racing,stock price • Int’l Telegraph Union (ITU) formed in 1865- futile regulatory measures• Information overload

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IMPACT:Government and Telegraphy: • Initially sceptic about the technology French: Primarily a defense aid British: integrated into the postal service after the technolgy matured America: Predominantly a private enterprise dominated by Western

UnionTransportation :• Formed a partnership with the railway industry- fostered monopoly in a

sense, especially in Britain• 1851-Pony Express closed due to the Transcontinental line from New

York to California• Railway telegraph invented in 1887 by Granville Woods

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IMPACT:Business• Telegraph gave birth to the pneumatic tube industy-which later proved a

cheaper way to communicate locally.• Merchants started living in the fast lane- Quality and price more

important than geographical proximity• 1872-Western Union monopolises controls of 80% of telegraph traffic-

makes huge profits and sets a modern business model• Stock Tickers redefine the way the stock prices were transmittedTelegraph and the press: • One of the key drivers of news paper industry. • International coverage, feeling of belonging to a global community

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IMPACT:• Gave rise to a new industry of info-sellers ->The

Assoicated Press of New York and Reuters in Europe- synonymous even today !

• 1870s- The stage is set for the Victorian Internet- telegraph, submarine cables, pneumatic tubes and messengers.

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The vicious cycle ends (or does it ?)

• 1870s- Telegraph is glorified.Improved features like quadruplex transmissions gave more for less.

• Automatic / Harmonic telegraph systems makes skilled operators redundant.Wages are cut. Becomes a semi-skilled worker’s profession

• 1876- Alexander Bell patents the telephone.Instant hit.• 30,000 telehones world wide by end of 1880.• 1900s-The telegraph is dead,long live telegraph !

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Issues raised:

• Is the internet really the fore runner in bridging the geographic divide ?

• CAN we bridge the divide at all ? • Under what social context does technolgy become successful ?• Is success permanent or does it fall prey to the very nature of

humans dealing with it ?• Can you regulate technology ?• Do you think internet has an end ?

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