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108 reviews for:
The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century's On-Line Pioneers
Tom Standage
3.85 AVERAGE
108 reviews for:
The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century's On-Line Pioneers
Tom Standage
3.85 AVERAGE
I needed a "non-fiction book about technology" for my Book Riot Read Harder Challenge and was hard pressed to find something modern I cared to learn about in this dumpster fire we call 2017, so I instead turned to the Victorians and the advent of the telegraph.
Super illuminating and refreshing to see that new technology causes greatness and horribleness no matter the era. I was not aware the first telegraphs were visual, using long arms to gesture codes atop large hills (creepy) nor realized how horrid it must have been to try and lay cable across the Atlantic. on a boat. Yikes.
A highly readable micro-history!
Super illuminating and refreshing to see that new technology causes greatness and horribleness no matter the era. I was not aware the first telegraphs were visual, using long arms to gesture codes atop large hills (creepy) nor realized how horrid it must have been to try and lay cable across the Atlantic. on a boat. Yikes.
A highly readable micro-history!
informative
medium-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Informative, balanced, and presenting a wealth of information in an accessible way without trying to 'dumb it down'. An enjoyable read on the rise and fall of the telegraph.
A really great book on the history of the telegraph! I'm always wary of nonfiction books, but this one was highly readable. The author talked about the inventors, the early prototypes, operators, scam artists, loves on the line and the overall world impact of the telegraph. It was quite fascinating, and it really did read like the early internet days!
A nice, short history of telegraph technology, from its beginnings using chains of optical semaphores built on tall towers across the countryside, to the pinnacle of electric Morse code telegraphs. Sandwiched between these bookends, Standage discusses the impacts of this technology on the culture around it, primarily from the perspective of the US and UK. Some of the parallels he sees between the telegraph and today's Internet explosion seem strained, and the cultural stories are a little thin, even for such a short book. You get the idea that he simply ran out of material, but still had to deliver a book of a certain length. It's entertaining, but won't be finding a place on my shelves to be read a second time.
A charming book about the development of the telegraph--the nuts and bolts as well as the reaction and impact on culture. For folks who get anxious about how the Internet is changing society so dramatically--chill. We've been down this road before.
After reading a few books by Tom Standage, I was eager to get my hands on this piece. While many are familiar with the explosion of the Internet over the past few decades, Standage argues that there was a similar type of communication system that was just as complicated and readily accessible to the masses. The idea of a telegraph system came about centuries ago, when a Frenchman sought to relay messages between two points using the clanging of pots in a specific coded manner. While this seemed to work, it fell apart when the wind was too strong and the privacy of the message was completely lost. As advancements grew, telegraphy became a hot topic among physicists and investors of all kinds. Samuel Morse is seen as the father of modern telegraphy, using wires to transmit messages through a coded system he created. The emergence of Morse Code and the continued experimentation of communication through the wire began a primitive system whereby communities could pass along short messages up or down the line. However, vastly separated areas were still not able to communicate with one another, which posed an issue in making it a truly global attraction. Into the middle of Victorian Era, the idea of sending messages across the British Empire became all the rage, or at least across the Atlantic Ocean. Laying wires across open bodies of water by ship soon remedied this, though there were still errors during the early stages of its organisation. With determination, messages began to make their way through, though the ease with which messages could be sent soon created a massive backlog.
Standage addresses some of the larger follies of the telegraph system in the second part of the book. By using Morse Code, operators would sometimes bungle a single word and thereby completely change the message being sent or delivered. This proved to be quite costly in one instance, as a man lost thousands in stock purchases because he misunderstood the message sent by a colleague. There were also the issues of coding or shorthand message sending, where fabricated words made it even more difficult to convey the needed message from one person to the other. Eventually, rules were put in place to standardise, or at least limit the superfluous verbiage being placed across the lines. A more humourous downfall included the lack of complete understanding that people had about telegraphs. Standage discusses two examples whereby people came to the telegraph office to send physical items, from a plate of sauerkraut to a handful of money. The concept of immediate communication between people still needed to be honed, but things were surely moving in the right direction.
Standage does speak of some of the downfalls that came with telegraph use, specifically the inundating of offices with information. These countless messages would create major delivery delays and tie up the wires for weeks, thereby making the new technology less effective. Others argued that telegraph transmission provided the consumer with too much readily accessible information, lessening the ‘business edge’ when it came to the capitalist relationship. The rise of Western Union can be directly tied to the advancements in telegraphy, creating a monopoly for a period. However, as new technology emerged, in the form of the telephone, Western Union’s telegraph system began to wane, leaving it to fill the void with money transfers, but that is best discussed in another biography.
After reading to stellar books about world history seen through the eyes of various objects, I was pleased to see telegraphy receive such a thorough examination. Standage does a masterful job at laying the historical groundwork and developing great arguments throughout. He uses an array of concrete examples to substantiate his hypotheses in each chapter and provides the reader with a great story about the development of the telegraph machine. His parallels in the latter portion of the book as it relates to the modern internet is quite useful, as though there was a quasi-resurrection of ideas and sentiments about this new form of communication. The writing is not overly academic, though there is definitely a detailed primer feel to the writing, requiring more than a passing interest in the topic. I found myself affixed to the narrative and wanted to know more, hanging on while Standage discussed many of the topics at hand, which mixed a serious and somewhat humorous side to the topic. While the telegraph was eventually replaced with the telephone, there is sure to be a new form of technology that awaits the general public. What that is has yet to be discovered, but I hope Tom Standage is still around to explore it and pens a catchy tome to discuss its emergence.
Kudos, Mr. Standage, for another amazing reading experience. I have thoroughly enjoyed what I have read of yours to date and will scour the library for more!
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/248185-a-book-for-all-seasons
Standage addresses some of the larger follies of the telegraph system in the second part of the book. By using Morse Code, operators would sometimes bungle a single word and thereby completely change the message being sent or delivered. This proved to be quite costly in one instance, as a man lost thousands in stock purchases because he misunderstood the message sent by a colleague. There were also the issues of coding or shorthand message sending, where fabricated words made it even more difficult to convey the needed message from one person to the other. Eventually, rules were put in place to standardise, or at least limit the superfluous verbiage being placed across the lines. A more humourous downfall included the lack of complete understanding that people had about telegraphs. Standage discusses two examples whereby people came to the telegraph office to send physical items, from a plate of sauerkraut to a handful of money. The concept of immediate communication between people still needed to be honed, but things were surely moving in the right direction.
Standage does speak of some of the downfalls that came with telegraph use, specifically the inundating of offices with information. These countless messages would create major delivery delays and tie up the wires for weeks, thereby making the new technology less effective. Others argued that telegraph transmission provided the consumer with too much readily accessible information, lessening the ‘business edge’ when it came to the capitalist relationship. The rise of Western Union can be directly tied to the advancements in telegraphy, creating a monopoly for a period. However, as new technology emerged, in the form of the telephone, Western Union’s telegraph system began to wane, leaving it to fill the void with money transfers, but that is best discussed in another biography.
After reading to stellar books about world history seen through the eyes of various objects, I was pleased to see telegraphy receive such a thorough examination. Standage does a masterful job at laying the historical groundwork and developing great arguments throughout. He uses an array of concrete examples to substantiate his hypotheses in each chapter and provides the reader with a great story about the development of the telegraph machine. His parallels in the latter portion of the book as it relates to the modern internet is quite useful, as though there was a quasi-resurrection of ideas and sentiments about this new form of communication. The writing is not overly academic, though there is definitely a detailed primer feel to the writing, requiring more than a passing interest in the topic. I found myself affixed to the narrative and wanted to know more, hanging on while Standage discussed many of the topics at hand, which mixed a serious and somewhat humorous side to the topic. While the telegraph was eventually replaced with the telephone, there is sure to be a new form of technology that awaits the general public. What that is has yet to be discovered, but I hope Tom Standage is still around to explore it and pens a catchy tome to discuss its emergence.
Kudos, Mr. Standage, for another amazing reading experience. I have thoroughly enjoyed what I have read of yours to date and will scour the library for more!
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/248185-a-book-for-all-seasons
Interesting and entertaining but overall disappointing. Its basically a brief overview of the history of the telegraph and it rushes through a lot. Its also almost entirely centered on America and Britain with a little France it leaves out the challenges of building and staffing telegraph offices in remote areas. He mentioned places like India and Africa but doesn't go into how the technology was used as part of the wider colonisation effort which would have been interesting. This book was kind of like reading the Wikipedia page about the telegraph I was left feeling like I didn't actually learn much.
Overall I found The Victorian Internet quite interesting and informative. I had little knowledge of the foundations of the telegraph prior to reading this and I enjoyed learning about the evolution of the devices. At times I felt the author could have gone into greater depth in terms of the technicalities of the devices but most people probably would not mind. I, however, was very interested into the specific scientific details because it is something I enjoy.
I do not think I have ever once thought about how much of an impact the telegraph had on the world before. For information to take weeks to months to reach you and then suddenly have it take potentially only minutes was monumental. The degree of change was extreme and I agree with the author's note at the end that Victorian time travelers would likely be more impressed with our airplanes than our internet.
I still cannot understand how after each of these inventions, both the telegraph and internet, that people would believe the device would bring peace to the world. You would really think people would learn.
I rather enjoyed the little tidbits about how people thought you could send sauerkraut via telegraph and other misunderstandings. The stories of parallels between finding love via telegraph and online were cute. Overall it is really strange how comparable the telegraph and internet are and despite the age of the book (1997) I still think it holds up as most of it covers the telegraph.
I do not think I have ever once thought about how much of an impact the telegraph had on the world before. For information to take weeks to months to reach you and then suddenly have it take potentially only minutes was monumental. The degree of change was extreme and I agree with the author's note at the end that Victorian time travelers would likely be more impressed with our airplanes than our internet.
I still cannot understand how after each of these inventions, both the telegraph and internet, that people would believe the device would bring peace to the world. You would really think people would learn.
I rather enjoyed the little tidbits about how people thought you could send sauerkraut via telegraph and other misunderstandings. The stories of parallels between finding love via telegraph and online were cute. Overall it is really strange how comparable the telegraph and internet are and despite the age of the book (1997) I still think it holds up as most of it covers the telegraph.