The Victorian Internet [Book Review]
Analogies are one of the best ways to help describe a story, event, or situation through a different limelight. I like using analogies because who will witness a review can be inevitable, and analogies can be left to the audience to interpret in their own way. The best way to evaluate The Victorian Internet is to compare the contents of the book with life. Resembling life, The Victorian Internet revealed the telegraph journey as a rollercoaster path of events. While there were many triumphs over innovative success, there were also many moments of disappointment and failure. The organization of the book truly enables to author to capture the strenuous and revolutionary path that has led to where communication stands today.
The general review of the book is composed of three pieces of knowledge. Initially and most obviously, the book outlines the detailed life of the telegraph, from invention to final accomplishment. Due to the length of time that it has taken for the telegraph to finally succeed, the author was able to portray the audacity of the many pioneers. The potential lesson for today’s inventors is the resilience of the contributors to the telegraph. Over hundreds of years, inventors came and went, but each person donated a piece to the telegraph puzzle. For experts in digital media, it is important to remember that giving up is not an option, and that it is the process in which we search for definition that will help supply the puzzle of the today’s technological generation.
The second piece of knowledge is the abundant contributors to the telegraph history. Aside from the numerous amounts of inventors who had direct impact on development, such as Nollet, Chappe, and Morse, there were other significant figures to learn. For example, after the first connection between United States and United Kingdom, President Buchanan and Queen Victoria were able to exchange notes faster than ever before. Although it was not apparent at the time, the telegraph played a huge role for international political relations. To put this in modern context, we can think of the birth of user generated content. The invention of numerous communication products has enabled average citizens to create a broader impact. The telegraph made it easier to communicate business related information between two famous political figures. Today, the internet makes it easier for anyone to communicate anything to the world.
The reality of victory and skepticism is the final take away from the book because it represents a true analogy of how patterns of history can be used to help predict the future. The telegraph experienced bandwidth issues when the benefits (such a speed of communication) were first announced to the general public. The hype created a situation where telegraph had more customers than the product could support. The industry faced a knowledge gap between the consumers’ expectation of the product offerings and what the product could actually provide. Take the mother wanting to send food to his son using the telegraph as an example. Today, when new products are rolled out, demand increases exponentially as consumers are constantly craving the latest innovation. Just like consumers of the past, current ones bite the bait of revolutionary propagandas, but will need clarification of the product benefits and harms to prevent under-delivery of expectations.
The author did a great job of translating the cynicism of those who questioned the capability and success of the telegraph. While obscure, Standage used a quirky combination of sarcasm and witty humor to help paint the picture of the historical atmosphere. When describing cryptography, he narrated the irony of unsuccessful hackers and cheaters of those who attempted to game the telegraph system. Personally, the absurdity of these events is the commonality of the issues in current technology today. Standage states, “Ever since people have invented things, other people have found ways to put those things to criminal use.” Currently, in a world of new technology where regulation is nothing but a black hole and has yet to be determined, it is evident that history will always repeat itself. Some things change, but some things never change.
While the book speaks specific to the history of communication industries, audiences of other trades could benefit from reading this book. As mentioned before, the history of telegraph has impacted many different markets. The telegraph revolution has changed the way our financial markets operate. It has impacted efficiency of business through process and etiquette. Interactions between political leaders have evolved over the years, leading to both positive and negative events of international history. Interpersonal relationship has dramatically changed as societies have gained more control over how they exchange communication between people in their lives. The Victorian Internet is a quality read as the specifics of the book may primarily focus on the uprising details of the telegraph, but the overall theme can be applied to a wide array of audience motivation.
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