During the nineteenth century considerable technical progress was made accomplished in the field of communication. With the rise of rail systems in Europe and America, the need to transmit and communicate messages faster has begun to develop. Before the telegraph, communication could only cover the train or the fastest horse. According to the invention, the barriers of space and time no longer prevent an individual or an organization from communicating quickly and efficiently.
The development of the telegraph began with an inventor named Samuel Morse who developed a communication system that worked by sending electronic pulses along a wired network. These electronic impulses will evolve towards the now famous "Morse code". His system devised a way for each letter of the alphabet to match an electronic "point or zipper" impulse, which, when learned, could easily be discernible for the receiver (Gupt and Vinay 5). This revolutionary invention became known as the telegraph and created the basis of the modern international communication network. The telegraph revolutionized the way companies were managed and how wars were waged and allowed people to get closer despite the geographical situation.
Although the telegraph has become an antiquity in the 21st century it has paved the way for the modern telephone and internet systems people rely on today. Additionally, telegraph set a motion for the development of mass media especially the broadcast media paving a way for the development of different ways through which information could reach people quickly (McNabb 219). For instance, the telegraph was responsible for linking the world’s newspaper in the 19th and 20th century through the wire services establishing a centralized broadcasting system in the United States and Europe.
Work Cited
Gupt, Krishn Kumar, and Vinay Kumar Singh. "Evolution of Modern Communication Systems." Evolution 5.6 (2016).
McNabb, David E. "Post-Revolutionary War Commerce and Trade." A Comparative History of Commerce and Industry, Volume I. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2016. 215-227.
