Thomas Edison

Admiral Dewey: “You may fire when ready, Gridley.”

Senor Marconi and the Yacht Race

James Gordon Bennett

Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World

Joseph Pulitzer

Nellie Bly, special reporter for the New York World

Faraday’s magnetic circuit

Maxwell’s light theory

Hertz wave device

Queen Victoria’s “Alberta”

The Transatlantic Cable: 1858 to 1866; top left: pieces of the 1858 cable system; top right: The Agamemnon and the Whale

Lee De Forest and Reginald Fessenden and

John Stone (no picture)

Galveston, Texas 1900

The Marconi business model• Don’t sell the equipment• Lease the service• Charge a regular,

predictable rate for dependable wireless transmission service

• Push notion that wireless is not just technology, but a “system”

Marconi’s Cape Cod station

Inventors and Navy discover each other

• U.S. notes that Japan used wireless very effectively in Russo Japanese war

• Germany nationalizes wireless after Prince Henry crisis

• Entrepreneurs see Navy as gravy train

Theodore Roosevelt negotiates settlement to Russo-Japanese War, 1905

SIR JOSEPH. When I was a lad I served a term As office boy to an Attorney's firm.

I cleaned the windows and I swept the floor,

And I polished up the handle of the big front door.

CHORUS. He polished up the handle of the big

front door.

SIR JOSEPH. I polished up that handle so

carefullee That now I am the Ruler of the

Queen's Navee! CHORUS.

He polished up that handle so carefullee,

That now he is the ruler of the Queen's Navee.

SIR JOSEPH. As office boy I made such a mark

That they gave me the post of a junior clerk. I served the writs with a smile so bland,

And I copied all the letters in a big round hand.

CHORUS. He copied all the letters

in a big round hand.

SIR JOSEPH. I copied all the letters in a

hand so free, That now I am the Ruler of

the Queen's Navee!

CHORUS. He copied all the letters

in a hand so free, That now he is the

Ruler of the Queen's Navee!

SIR JOSEPH. In serving writs I made

such a name That an articled clerk I

soon became; I wore clean collars and

a brand-new suit For the pass

examination at the Institute.

CHORUS. For the pass

examination at the Institute.

SIR JOSEPH. That pass examination

did so well for me, That now I am the

Ruler of the Queen's Navee!

CHORUS. That pass examination

did so well for he, That now he is the

Ruler of the Queen's Navee!

SIR JOSEPH. Of legal knowledge I acquired such

a grip That they took me into the

partnership. And that junior partnership, I ween, Was the only ship that I ever had

seen. CHORUS.

Was the only ship that he ever had seen.

SIR JOSEPH. But that kind of ship

so suited me, That now I am the ruler of the Queen's Navee!

CHORUS. But that kind of ship so suited he,

That now he is the ruler of the Queen's Navee!

SIR JOSEPH. I grew so rich that I was

sent By a pocket borough into

Parliament. I always voted at my party's

call, And I never thought of

thinking for myself at all. CHORUS.

He never thought of thinking for himself at all.

SIR JOSEPH. I thought so little, they rewarded me

By making me the Ruler of the Queen's Navee! CHORUS.

He thought so little, they rewarded he By making him the Ruler of the Queen's Navee!

SIR JOSEPH. Now landsmen all,

whoever you may be, If you want to rise to the top of the tree,

If your soul isn't fettered to an office

stool, Be careful to be guided

by this golden rule. CHORUS.

Be careful to be guided by this golden rule.

SIR JOSEPH. Stick close to your desks

and never go to sea, And you all may be rulers of

the Queen's Navee! CHORUS.

Stick close to your desks and never go to sea,

And you all may be rulers of the Queen's Navee!

We don’t care; we don’t have to; we’re the Navy

• We don’t care about your

patents• We don’t care

about your bottom line expenses

• We don’t care about paying you

on time• We don’t care about your need

to build equipment for consumers

• Nothing personal.

Players in the fight over broadcasting

• Marconi

• The Entrepreneurs (DeForest and others)

• The Navy

• The Press

• Public opinion

Fessenden’s Christmas radio broadcast, 1906

De Forest Fleming valve

1909: Jack Binns saves the Republic

and Florida ships via wireless

The Radio Act of 1912• Any "person, company, or

corporation" using a radio transmitter must have a

license• Issued by the Department

of Commerce• Navy exempt from this

statute• Navy given best

frequencies• Amateurs given the worst

• Navy has right to clear airwaves upon reception of

a distress signal

Crisis over AT&T’s power

• AT&T had by 1910 bought out many independent telephone companies

• Often by bribery or outright political influence

• It also controlled Western Union Telegraph

The interconnectivity problem

• Should AT&T have to offer long distance connections to independent telephone companies?

• Should Marconi operators have to communicate with other wireless services

• Should all instant messenger services be able to communicate with each other?

• Should big phone/broadband companies today offer access to all servers at equal rates for comparable bandwidth use?

• Should cable companies have to run all TV digital multichannels?

http://www.myinsulators.com/commokid/telephones/1910s_telephone_ads.htm

The Kingsbury Commitment of 1913

• AT&T VP Nathan Kingsbury sends letter to Attorney General, promising:– To divest itself of Western

Union– To provide access to its

wires to independents for long distance service

– To stop acquiring new local companies without permission of state utilities commissions

The 1919 RCA Deal

• British Marconi sells its American division

• General Electric and American Marconi start a new corporation: The Radio Corporation of America

• RCA sells and leases wireless equipment in the U.S., manufactured by G.E. in cooperation with AT&T and Westinghouse

• The deal establishes precedent: Corporations will control broadcasting in the United States, with some regulation and anti-trust oversight by the state

KDKA in 1920

The constitutive choices of radio and telephone

• Don’t nationalize or build publicly owned alternatives

• Instead:– Regulate via government agencies in

coordination with the private sector– Constantly threaten (er, oversee) the private

sector via anti-trust actions