Thande
Donor
Some people have argued, using the phrase "Victorian Internet", that the change from nothing to electric telegraphy in the 19th century was a more significant shift in thinking and the way we perceive the world than the shift from that to the modern Internet, arguing that the whole 'connected global world' idea is not a new thing.
Now aside perhaps from the speed of communication, the chief difference between Victorian-era telegraphy and modern text-based communication by the Internet and mobile phones is that the latter is available to everyone. So the challenge is this: Make telegraphy-related text communication technology cheap and widespread so that anyone can use it as regularly as they would now use a mobile phone.
This need not be privately owned - it could be a broader network of "cybercafe" like telegraphy stations - but the key point is the price and the convenience.
POD after 1789 and results by 1900. Go!
Now aside perhaps from the speed of communication, the chief difference between Victorian-era telegraphy and modern text-based communication by the Internet and mobile phones is that the latter is available to everyone. So the challenge is this: Make telegraphy-related text communication technology cheap and widespread so that anyone can use it as regularly as they would now use a mobile phone.
This need not be privately owned - it could be a broader network of "cybercafe" like telegraphy stations - but the key point is the price and the convenience.
POD after 1789 and results by 1900. Go!