4 ms·

For an accessible book on the history and impact of the early telegraph networks I'd recommend The Victorian Internet by Tom Standage.

Stratoscope 2y ago
I heartily second that. It's one of my favorite books. For anyone curious about it, you can click the Read Sample button below the cover image here, or download the sample to your Kindle device or app: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JW5WQSR https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JW5WQSR If Vint Cerf's foreword and the first chapter don't convince you to buy the book, I don't know what will. Another good read, as many know, is Mother Earth Mother Board. It is more about the modern undersea fiber cables, but touches on the early telegraph cables too: https://www.wired.com/1996/12/ffglass/ https://www.wired.com/1996/12/ffglass/ On my PC, this article says it is for subscribers only. But on my phone (Android with Chrome) it loads up just fine. Go figure.
- hackernewds 2y ago
  couldn't see where to read the first chapter
  - Stratoscope 2y ago
    On desktop or mobile? My note about the Read Sample button was on a desktop browser. On mobile, you should be able to just tap the cover image. Either way, you can then scroll up or down in the preview. Let me know if you got that far, or where you did get to, and I will be happy to assist further. (I'm not the Amazon Kindle Sample Support Guy, but I like this book so much that I don't mind helping sort this out.)
- daveoc64 2y ago
  Amusingly, the Kindle edition isn't sold in the UK. Transatlantic commerce has been foiled by copyright.
pipecmd 2y ago
You also will find a ton of contemporary (and copyright free) books on https://books.google.com/ https://books.google.com/ in many languages, which I find way more amazing to read today than books looking back on that time with today's mindset and all... A favorite of mine is "Lebenserinnerungen", by Werner von Siemens, 1892: https://www.google.ch/books/edition/Lebenserinnerungen/SkIOAAAAYAAJ https://www.google.ch/books/edition/Lebenserinnerungen/SkIOA... It's a lovely topic to dive into and adjust your search key words according to whatever aspect interests you the most (engineering, business, economics, public service (european countries) vs free market (USA), politics, war, travel/tourism, time/clocks, railroads, ..., telegraphy changed everything).

Stratoscope 2y ago

I heartily second that. It's one of my favorite books. For anyone curious about it, you can click the Read Sample button below the cover image here, or download the sample to your Kindle device or app: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JW5WQSR https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JW5WQSR If Vint Cerf's foreword and the first chapter don't convince you to buy the book, I don't know what will. Another good read, as many know, is Mother Earth Mother Board. It is more about the modern undersea fiber cables, but touches on the early telegraph cables too: https://www.wired.com/1996/12/ffglass/ https://www.wired.com/1996/12/ffglass/ On my PC, this article says it is for subscribers only. But on my phone (Android with Chrome) it loads up just fine. Go figure.

hackernewds 2y ago
couldn't see where to read the first chapter
- Stratoscope 2y ago
  On desktop or mobile? My note about the Read Sample button was on a desktop browser. On mobile, you should be able to just tap the cover image. Either way, you can then scroll up or down in the preview. Let me know if you got that far, or where you did get to, and I will be happy to assist further. (I'm not the Amazon Kindle Sample Support Guy, but I like this book so much that I don't mind helping sort this out.)
daveoc64 2y ago
Amusingly, the Kindle edition isn't sold in the UK. Transatlantic commerce has been foiled by copyright.

pipecmd 2y ago

You also will find a ton of contemporary (and copyright free) books on https://books.google.com/ https://books.google.com/ in many languages, which I find way more amazing to read today than books looking back on that time with today's mindset and all... A favorite of mine is "Lebenserinnerungen", by Werner von Siemens, 1892: https://www.google.ch/books/edition/Lebenserinnerungen/SkIOAAAAYAAJ https://www.google.ch/books/edition/Lebenserinnerungen/SkIOA... It's a lovely topic to dive into and adjust your search key words according to whatever aspect interests you the most (engineering, business, economics, public service (european countries) vs free market (USA), politics, war, travel/tourism, time/clocks, railroads, ..., telegraphy changed everything).