Abstract
Introduction
The history of Europe indicates that communication in the region was only limited to certain route maps. The route maps were drawn to connect different stations with orders being sent out with messages. Although in some cases the message was written covering sensitive issues, the messages were dictated to the messenger and repeated to the receiver. This system was highly inconvenient since the individuals were often pushed into placing their trust on an individual and the telegraph came to end this (Carey 12). Distortion of the messages often led to the need for repetition or affected how well the action was undertaken. Communication was often tedious with the common geographic and climatic challenges affecting how well the messages were delivered to the relevant authorities. In matters of urgency, the riders were expected to carry the messages to the respective destinations. It was common for the riders to be attacked by the robbers; hence, affecting how the message was conveyed. Communication started to change with the rapid growth of the postal services. As the popularity of the service increased, the post offices were opened in different areas. It was imperative that the postal services increased their presence since this increased the likelihood of the people relying on the postal service. The senders and receivers had to walk to the post office to collect their letters. This was an improvement to the communication network. However, the most significant invention was yet to come.
The first telegraph was the optic telegraph which was invented in France. The telegraph was used to signal messages over thousands of miles. Optical telegraph led to the signaling of the messages over a long distance. The messages could be relayed in a fast manner and acted upon better than waiting for a letter from the post office. The optical telegraphs were important during the Napoleonic wars. However, the optical telegraphs were run and managed by the government mainly for defense purposes. Attempts to create the commercial telegraph were often unsuccessful since the government reserved the technology for its purpose. The optical telegraph had a high speed, but it did not have the ability to reach the people in bad weather. Since the semaphore systems were implemented first in Europe, the system was highly dependent on the seasons. During the bad weather such as in winter, there was a marked difficulty in the communication (Dilhac 5). Therefore, there was a need to develop a new form of the telegraph that would reach all the people.
The introduction of the electric telegraph led to the reduction of some of the issues that the semaphore telegraphic systems used. For the first time, the messages could be relayed over long distances; the messages were also of a large bandwidth compared to the former systems. With the introduction of the electric telegraph, the system was capable of reaching more people at a faster rate. However, compared to the postal system, the telegraph was still lacking. The mail system had essentially transformed how the people communicated. It had only changed the medium such that the message that could be relayed via the messengers could be transported through the mail system. Therefore, the bandwidth was high. However, the complications of speed were high. The limitations of the telegraph regarding bandwidth were compensated for regarding the speed. Similarly to the Internet, the introduction of the telegraph did not take much foothold in its initial days. It had to wait for a decade before the people fully gripped the potential that it brought them. The annihilation of spatial aspects of communication had finally arrived leading to the realization of the new potential that the new technology harbored for the people.
The introduction of telegraphic messaging ushered in a different area in transport and communication. However, there has been little weight accorded to the technology in the historical texts. Most of the studies neglect the fact that the telegraph is the foundation of the current communication system. In the communications technology, the telegraph is the least studied. The discourse on the telegraph is cut short in most of the historical texts. The linkage between the technology and the futuristic communications is not well explored (Carey 15). The available studies were also biased since instead of focusing on the technology, they were more interested in the western union which was the greatest monopoly at the time. The Western Union was the first monopoly in the communication sector, and it came to form the prototype of the current communication companies.
The introduction of the telegraph alongside the railroads led to the development of the modern technology. It allowed the capitalists to establish the complex organizations that had not been heard off. Consequently, it facilitated opening up of the country for economic development. Opening up of the opportunities led to the development of few but major companies that served the country. However, for the telegraph, the ownership was later transformed into poor monopolistic tendencies. The Great War between Vanderbilt and Jay Gould led to the development of the eventual monopolistic control over the industry. The war was fought over the quadruplex telegraph which was taunted as the next control element in the communication industry.
For one to appreciate the role of the telegraph, it is imperative that one considers the eventual design and production of electrical goods. The telegraph introduced the field of electrical engineering. At that point, the engineering fields were dominated with little science and craft based disciplines such as chemical engineering for the former and civil engineering for the latter. Electrical engineering disciplines spawned new inventions including the radio and ironically the mobile telephone communication. Without the telegraph, the industry may not have been developed; hence, there could have been a limitation to the level of communication that the people enjoyed.
Another important impact of the technology was the introduction of changes to the nature of the language. Far right perceptions about the role of the telegraph were advanced. For some people, it was a trivializing invention that replaced how the society perceived the world. Being able to communicate over long distances without employing the services of a messenger was undecipherable to the Christians. They believed that only messages that could travel the long distances were prayers. The introduction of the dynamo seemed like a replacement of the Virgin Mary, who was the principal conveyor of the messages to the higher power. For the majority, the introduction signaled a new era whereby the spheres of life and approaches towards the common issues would change forever. An important role of the telegraph was that it became the watershed that divided the way the people communicated. The telegraph was introduced as an addition to the common transport network. It is common to find the alignment between the natural geography and the transport network. The telegraph followed the same ideal when it came to the modification (Carey 9-10). The telegraph was a modification of the way that the people communicated with the external world.
The watershed aspect of the telegraph was the most innocent aspect of the telegraph. Instead of the people continuing with the messenger system that had been applied for a considerable time, the telegraph led to the effective distinction between the communication and transportation. For the first time in history, the communication channels no longer relied on the physical movement of the messages. The message could be transmitted from one location to the other without requiring the messenger or carrier to commute from one location to the other (Carey 13). Another important aspect about the telegraph was that it facilitated the active control of the physical processes. For instance, the telegraphic messages used in the physical switching of the rolling stock facilitated an activity that was originally deemed impossible without an actual manual presence. This departure from the communication model that was intractably linked to the communication network. Before the introduction of the telegraph, communication could have been used synonymously with transportation since it entailed detailed movement of the individuals. For instance, the telegraph reached the west coast before the railroads had made any advent. During the period, the telegraph was the only information link between the two seaboards (Yates 154). Thereof, if the people were to rely on the traditional communication network that relied on messengers, there had to be a system entailing horseback riding and connection to the railroads. This process could have made communication between the West Coast and the East Coast difficult and impossible to sustain. It should have also led to the delivery of information that was no longer actionable.
Plainly put, the introduction of the telegraph redefined the way that the people related to each other. As opposed to the reliance on a messenger, the communication network had the capability of creating the new system that was not deterred by the geographical constraints (Hochfelder 3). The introduction of the telegraph led to the new thinking approach towards the communication process. The model of communication that was born out of the telegraphic communication was the transmission model this model has been the foundation of major innovations in the communication area such as the telephone, radio, television, computers, and the Internet. Even as the telegraph gained more significance, it impact on the communication and the ways of doing business seemed to change (Yates 154). The telegraph came out as one of the new inventions that required that the government introduces new ways rules. The political ideals were changed as the innovation gained control of the media. However, the most important impact of the innovation was the introduction of the monopoly capitalism. The foundation of a widespread monopolistic organization is highly dependent on the region and the distance, as well as the ability to reach the region and serve it effectively. Traditionally, the monopolistic organizations that were formed during the time were limited regarding the spatial control.
Reliance on the personal communication and interaction for the organizations to conduct business was highly unlikely. The business was often dragged on for long. However, the new invention changed the way that the organizations conducted their businesses (Winston and Winston 96). With the telegraph, the organizations had the power to conduct the businesses fast and economically. Instead of relying on the invisible hand of the market, the new businesses were capable of dealing based on the visible hand of the management (Gitelman 16). The organizations that were capable of noting the importance of the new technology witnessed the first movement of the goods. They also witnessed the unprecedented completion of orders; hence, increasing the production runs and the volume of output per run. Therefore, the initial pull system in production was based on the information received via the telegraph.
Telegraph and Modern Communication
It is important to note that the fascination with the telegraph led to the development of new research interests. The major inventors that created the modern communication methods often had their backgrounds in the telegraph industry. Lord Kelvin researched the possibility of interconnecting the world through a singular telegraph. The assessment of the possibility was premature since the laying technologies used in the instantiation of the undersea fiber cables were unavailable. However, his research presented the same model that is currently applied in the fire optic technology. It has also led to the development of potentials in the communication network that could have never been attained. Thomas Edison had started his career as an operator in the telegraph industry before he invited better telegraphic systems. He also investigates the concept of electricity and ended up lighting America. Without the background in the electric telegraph, he would not have managed to attain the invention levels more so in the electric generation. Finally, Graham Bell was working on the improvement of the telegraph when he invented the telephone (Odlyzko 97). This invention is particularly important since it redefined the way of communication with the world. Instead of just coding and decoding the signals from a vibrating wire, the people could now communicate through voice calls at an instant
Electric Telegraph and the Internet
Similar to the modern Internet, the telegraph was designed to transmit information to different connections. Instead of the World Wide Web, there were different stations, mostly postal that were used to receive and disseminate the information. Even though the Internet is cheaper to use and manage, it has a similar working model with the telegraph system. One of the aspects that link the Internet to the telegraphs system was the way that the reliance on the telephone network. The Internet was founded on the existing telephone network. This network could not have been developed in the absence of telegraphs. The telephone network was developed at the time when the Internet was invented. The invention of the connections may have been a ground moving event. However, the main reason for the success was the presence of an established network which could be traced back to the telegraph era. The existence of the network makes the Internet highly affordable. All the people with the phone connection can access it without any additional costs. However, the telegraph had to build its infrastructure from the ground. The inventions relating to the telegraph were much higher and more significant (Winston and Winston 226).
An important similarity between the telegraph system and the telephone is in the way the messages are transmitted (Farley 14). The messages sent from the telegraph stations were coded into notes, which were transmitted over the wire for long distances. The point of origin had a machine that acted as a modulator. The messages would be converted into a machine form. The other end had a machine that was supposed to interpret the message for the receiver. The message was evaluated and deciphered then delivered to the required receiver. Even though the process was considerably longer, the same principle applies to the Internet. The modem works on the same principle. However, the Internet has a higher bandwidth.
In conclusion, despite little historical coverage accorded to the telegraph, it was a major forerunner for the later technologies. It is also a turning point in the history of communication. The introduction of the telegraph led to the development of a transmission mode of communication that was disassociated from the transport. The telegraph led to the development of telephone communication by Graham Bell and laid the foundation for the invention of the Internet. Telegraph communication also led to the development of a new mode of business, which was dominated by a nationwide monopoly. The first monopoly developed due to the advances in telegraphic communication was the Western Union. The telegraph played an important role in opening up the entire nation to new possibilities.
Works Cited
Carey, James W. "Technology and Ideology: The Case Of The Telegraph." 1-22
Dilhac, J. M. "The Telegraph Of Claude Chappe-An Optical Telecommunication Network For The XVIIITH Century." Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Toulouse (2001).
Farley, Tom. "Telephone History Series." (2011). Print
Gitelman, Lisa. "Always already new." Media, history and the data of culture (2008). Print
Hochfelder, David. "Joseph Henry: Inventor of the Telegraph?." Smithsonian Institution Website. Retrieved March 30 (1998): 2004. Print
Odlyzko, Andrew. "The history of communications and its implications for the Internet." Available at SSRN 235284 (2000). Print
Winston, Brian and Brian Winston. Media Technology And Society. London: Routledge, 1998. Print.
Yates, JoAnne. "The telegraph's effect on nineteenth-century markets and firms." Business and Economic History (1986): 149-163. Print
