Take a photo of a barcode or cover
flollmanders 's review for:
The Victorian Internet
by Tom Standage
Yes, the Victorians had an internet: telegraphy!
"In the middle of Queen Victoria's reign this new communications technology annihilated distance and shrank the world faster than ever before. [It] revolutionised business practice and gave rise to new forms of crime. Romances blossomed over its cables. Governments tried and failed to regulate it. Meanwhile, out on the wires, a technological subculture with its own customs and vocabulary was establishing itself. Does all this sound familiar?"
At only 200 pages of large-ish print, this is a short and straightforward look at the history of telegraphy, but with good anecdotes and many parallels to, yep, the internet.
Follow this up with or re-read Terry Pratchett's The Fifth Elephant and Going Postal for enhanced appreciation of telegraphy humor!
"In the middle of Queen Victoria's reign this new communications technology annihilated distance and shrank the world faster than ever before. [It] revolutionised business practice and gave rise to new forms of crime. Romances blossomed over its cables. Governments tried and failed to regulate it. Meanwhile, out on the wires, a technological subculture with its own customs and vocabulary was establishing itself. Does all this sound familiar?"
At only 200 pages of large-ish print, this is a short and straightforward look at the history of telegraphy, but with good anecdotes and many parallels to, yep, the internet.
Follow this up with or re-read Terry Pratchett's The Fifth Elephant and Going Postal for enhanced appreciation of telegraphy humor!