The non-electric telegraph was invented by Claude Chappe in 1794. This system was visual and used semaphore, a flag-based alphabet, and depended on a line of sight for communication. The optical telegraph was replaced by the electric telegraph.
The electric telegraph is a now outdated communication system that transmitted electric signals over wires from location to location that translated into a message.
for more information-
http://inventors.about.com/od/tstartinventions/a/telegraph.htm
for a video of a telegraph-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lki3jxNLVCI
It is understandable that this technology didn't last and needed improvement. If you had to rely on a line of sight, then you might just as well walk over and do a face to face. I'm pretty sure that by 1794 the moats were dried up, so that should not have been a deterent.
ReplyDeleteThis sort of communication always astounded me. It was essentially like Mors code. And in WWII it was the one thing that scared the entire world. I think the wires being sent from one location to another, that’s the start of the telephone line.
ReplyDeleteThe telegraph was the first real means of instant communication between two people or groups separated by thousands of miles. This is what would eventually allow a world market. True, there was trading between nations in the past, but it was very time consuming. Now, orders can be made online, shipped the next day, and received within two weeks. On a more relevant path, calls can now be made anywhere in the world. Sending a letter could take a while; now just pick up the phone.
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