EOTO Com Tech Timeline #1- The Telegraph

Learning about the EOTO's of communication technology had some mind boggling standpoints. I did find my topic of the telegraph to be very interesting for various reasons. I've always known the basis of what the telegraph is, but doing further research showed how much of an effect it had on the evolution of communication. First, the general definition of the telegraph is that it is a device or system that allows the transmission of information by coded signal over distance. The original telegraph was invented by David Alter, but was then developed electrically by Samuel Morse. It was developed in the mid-19th century, and the principal means of transmitting printed information was by wire or radio wave. Before the development of the electric telegraph, visual systems were used to convey messages over distances by means of display. The development of the voltaic cell in 1800, by Alessandro Volta, made it possible to power electric devices using low voltages and high currents. The electric telegraph worked by the receiver carving the dots and dashes on a strip of paper that was under a stylus. Then, the stylus was activated by an electromagnet turned on and off by the signals from the transmitter. A positive impact of it is that the railroad traffic control was one of the earliest applications of the telegraph, but it immediately became a vital tool for the transmission of news around the whole country. Although the telephone was originally expected to replace the telegraph completely, this turned out not to be the case, and both industries thrived together for many decades, then the telephone took over. This just proves how much of an evolution the telegraph placed on communication technology.