hi DDN community -
western's union telegraph service ended this week -- after 145 years of
continuous use. a precursor to the modern internet, telegraph service allowed
rapid communication over long distances.
to help future historians understand the telegraph, i've written a short
reading passage covering most of what they need to know.
The Invention of the Telegraph
So like the telegraph was invented in 1844 by Samuel Morse so that he could IM
with his friends. So he would like telegraph things like, "What hath God
wrought. brb." His friends would telegraph back, "u r the gr8test!!!!!!
LOL!!!!" Samuel Morse would then telegraph back, "BCNU CUL8R GTR. Telegraph
rocks, IMHO." (Be seeing you. See you later. Got to run.)
Samuel Morse's parents used to limit the amount of time he could telegraph with
friends. He was only allowed to telegraph with them after he had finished his
homework.
On January 27, 2006, Western Union discontinued the telegraph service that they
had been offering for 145 years. The press release for this announcement said
simply: Telegraph service just ended, OMG. TTFN. TAFN. (Oh my gosh. Ta ta for
now. That's all for now.)
See also
http://www.livescience.com/technology/060131_western_union.html
--
Phil Shapiro [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.digitaldivide.net/profile/pshapiro
http://www.digitaldivide.net/blog/pshapiro
http://www.his.com/pshapiro/stories.menu.html
"Wisdom starts with wonder." - Socrates
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