From 1890: The First Text Messages

http://sundaymagazine.org/2010/08/from-1890-the-first-text-messages/

by dmor • 15 years ago

74 16 15 years ago

m0nastic2• 15 years ago

I've always had a bizarre nostalgia for telegraph operators. When I was a Boy Scout as a kid, we had to learn both morse code and semaphores. I wonder if they still learn them today (I suspect not).

Edit: Yay, it looks like that merit badge still exists: http://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Signaling

palish• 15 years ago

I had no idea a "semaphore" meant something other than how it's used in programming.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semaphore_line

m0nastic2• 15 years ago

Amusingly, that's even a different definition for what I was referring to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_semaphore (although principally the same thing).

a-priori• 15 years ago

As a Venturer Scout, about a decade ago, I got my advanced amateur radio license and, for a while, started working on Morse code. Never did get the 5wpm Morse qualification, and I forget the code now.

petercooper• 15 years ago

Along similar lines (geddit?) but a little later was "cablese": http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,786319,00.h...

Which, if you don't want to click through, looked like this: Wales Parisward smorning omnistation cheered stop he said friendship proFrance unceasing.

epsilondelta• 15 years ago

It sms tht omttng crtn vwls mks ths tlgrph-spk. (Does one hve to typ lss thn 140 chrctrs?)

dredmorbius• 15 years ago

full stop

Luyt2• 15 years ago

.-- .... .- - .- -. .. -. - . .-. . ... - .. -. --. ... - --- .-. -.-- .-.-.- .. - .- .-.. ... --- -- .- -.. . -- . - .... .. -. -.- --- ..-. .... --- .-- .... .- -- .-. .- -.. .. --- --- .--. . .-. .- - --- .-. ... .. -. - . .-. .- -.-. - .-.-.- .. -. .-- --- .-. .-.. -.. --- ..-. .-- .- .-. -.-. .-. .- ..-. - .- -... -... .-. . ...- .. .- - .. --- -. ... .- .-. . .- .-.. ... --- -.-. --- -- -- --- -. .-.. -.-- ..- ... . -.. --..-- .-.. .. -.- . .-..-. .. -. -.-. .--. .- - .-..-. .. ..-. .- .--. .-.. .- -.-- . .-. ... . . ... .- -. .. -. -.-. --- -- .. -. --. .--. .- - .-. --- .-.. --- ..-. -- --- -. ... - . .-. ... .- -. -.. -. --- - .. -.-. . ... - .... .- - .... . .. ... - .... . --- -. .-.. -.-- --- -. . .-- .... --- .----. ...- . ... . . -. - .... . -- .-.-.-

zemanel2• 15 years ago

-..- --- -..- ---

Luyt2• 15 years ago

.... ..- .... ..--.. .-- .... .- - -.. --- . ... .----. -..- --- -..- --- .----. -- . .- -. ..--..

cormullion• 15 years ago

Some great background reading here:

http://distantwriting.co.uk/howthecompaniesworked.aspx

The idea that management would disapprove of the informal exchanges between operators is strangely familiar today.

Confusion• 15 years ago

A nice reminder that many things have already been done. Often the best question isn't: "why hasn't this been done yet?", but rather "Why did it fail the previous times?".

diminish• 15 years ago

Yes, that means, even current popular web services such as twitter can still be out-invented.

From 1890: The First Text Messages

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