The End of the Beginning - STOP- Of the Information Age
Well, it only took 150 years, but the end of the beginning of today's Information Age has arrived. As of last Friday, Western Union no longer issues telegrams. Long a staple of American telecommunications, especially in the first half of the 20th century, the use of telegrams lately has been limited to period piece films and TV shows. I always wondered what it would be like to get a telegram, but as I got older, realized there were a lot cheaper ways of getting the message across. Of course, now I'll never get one.
I've seen a few though-- when I was helping to go through some family papers a while back, I came across some that had been saved for posterity, or stuck in between other papers instead of buried at the bottom of some landfill somewhere. It's kind of fascinating to look at something that wasn't sent all that long ago, and reflect on how rapidly communications has developed since Samuel F.B. Morse sent that very first telegram in 1844. From the telegram to videophones in just over 160 years-- not too shabby.
For us deaf folks, our connection with Western Union is a bit more than the average person might realize. Old Western Union teletype machines formed the basis for our first TTYs/TDDs, as outlined in A Phone Of Our Own, by Harry Lang (worth a read, if you haven't already!)-- a history about telecommunications for the deaf. One Western Union term was co-opted for use on the TTY- one example is "SK", which means "the conversation's done." While you might think it stands for Stop Keying or some other obscure origin, it's actually a corruption of the Morse signals for "30," which meant "no more" or "end." A lot of newspaper stories or radio flashes sent over the original Western Union TTYs used to end with this number, and looked like this: - 30 -
The abbreviated tone of telegrams and telegraph communications continues today through ham radio, TTY and web-based relay conversations, and IM. So while Western Union may be defunct, telecommunications haven't ended; they've merely morphed and changed with the times.
As long as we're on the subject of (tele)communications, if you've been worried of late about the surrender of search engine companies and other communications sources to government intrusion, and you don't want the gummint to know about your search for hemorrhoid remedies or Googling your boss' name in search of new office gossip, then you may want to follow the suggestions posted here at InformationWeek. I knew most of them, and the majority of you probably will, but it never hurts to review.
Adieu, telegrams -STOP- What's next?
I've seen a few though-- when I was helping to go through some family papers a while back, I came across some that had been saved for posterity, or stuck in between other papers instead of buried at the bottom of some landfill somewhere. It's kind of fascinating to look at something that wasn't sent all that long ago, and reflect on how rapidly communications has developed since Samuel F.B. Morse sent that very first telegram in 1844. From the telegram to videophones in just over 160 years-- not too shabby.
For us deaf folks, our connection with Western Union is a bit more than the average person might realize. Old Western Union teletype machines formed the basis for our first TTYs/TDDs, as outlined in A Phone Of Our Own, by Harry Lang (worth a read, if you haven't already!)-- a history about telecommunications for the deaf. One Western Union term was co-opted for use on the TTY- one example is "SK", which means "the conversation's done." While you might think it stands for Stop Keying or some other obscure origin, it's actually a corruption of the Morse signals for "30," which meant "no more" or "end." A lot of newspaper stories or radio flashes sent over the original Western Union TTYs used to end with this number, and looked like this: - 30 -
The abbreviated tone of telegrams and telegraph communications continues today through ham radio, TTY and web-based relay conversations, and IM. So while Western Union may be defunct, telecommunications haven't ended; they've merely morphed and changed with the times.
As long as we're on the subject of (tele)communications, if you've been worried of late about the surrender of search engine companies and other communications sources to government intrusion, and you don't want the gummint to know about your search for hemorrhoid remedies or Googling your boss' name in search of new office gossip, then you may want to follow the suggestions posted here at InformationWeek. I knew most of them, and the majority of you probably will, but it never hurts to review.
Adieu, telegrams -STOP- What's next?
posted by Mr. Sandman | 9:27 PM
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