Parallels between the Telegraph and the Modern Day Internet Go back to home page

One of the main points of this story is to show how much the telegraph and the modern day internet parallel each other. Each one, in its day, brought about fanfare and skepticism, and much for the same reasons. There are many ways in which the two are alike. Here we will look at the similarities:

• Both the telegraph and the internet allowed people to communicate with one another over great distances. Technology has improved so operators are not needed, but the idea behind it all is the same (Standage 205).
  
  
• Even the earliest models of the telegraph paralleled today’s modems and networks. With our eight digit binary numbers, we are reminded of the eight shuttered telegraph that was used hundreds of years ago (Standage 206).
  
  
• Another similarity would be the use of short abbreviations understood by all. The telegraph would uses things such as “II” for I am ready, or “GA” for Go ahead (Standage 65). Today’s internet users use such abbreviations as “LOL” for laugh out loud, or “m/f” for the question you male or female when using chat rooms.
  
  
• “More striking still are the parallels between the social impact of the telegraph and that of the Internet.” When both were introduced to the world, they were received with both hype and skepticism. Both were thought to bring world peace, as communication would allow for understanding (Standage 207).
  
  
• Along with supposed world peace came the scam artists. They first used the telegraph for such things as finding the results of a horse race so that they could receive a large payoff. In modern day, scam artists are cracking into the internet to get credit card numbers and social security numbers (Standage 208).
  
  
• Along with the scam artists the people who are worried about the security of the information that they have sent through each time’s respective system. So they begin to use encryption and ciphering (Standage 208).
  
  
• On a lighter side, both the telegraph and the internet have been used to ignite romance. Love has been found with each system, sometimes even marriages (Standage 209).
  
  

What is even more interesting, is the way that we, in present day, pride ourselves on this marvelous invention. Really, the internet has been around for quite some time in the form of the telegraph. If Alexander Graham Bell were to come to be in the present, and log onto the internet, it would be of little shock to him. But, if he were to take a look into the sky and see a heavier than air airplane flying in the sky, he would be most astounded (Standage 213).