We continue our story of the digital switch (previous part) with a digression to examine the first telegraph. This machine was the incumbent against which the electric telegraph would be measured. Plus it's just plain interesting. The Brothers Chappe In 1789, Claude Chappe was living the easy life.1 Nominally a priest, he received income from his religious "benefices" (i.e., church endowments)… Continue reading Far Writer
Category: The Switch
An Expeditious Method of Conveying Intelligence
To begin our story of the switch, we must seek the origins of the electric telegraph. From this device arose the telecommunications industry, which, in turn, was the wellspring of digital computing as we know it. It came about only after many efforts over nearly a century to convey intelligence (intelligence meaning roughly what we mean by information) by electricity. One important… Continue reading An Expeditious Method of Conveying Intelligence
Creatures of Thought 