October 2019
Beginner
708 pages
26h
English
Some people believe the global telegraph network was the first internet, but the telephone network was the first to reach into most homes and workplaces. Unlike the telegraph, the telephone became part of the social and cultural fabric of modern life in the mid-20th century, much like the internet has become today.
Because of this, classic elements of telephone technology became familiar social and cultural concepts, much like the word “multitasking” was inherited from computing. These concepts include switchboards, party lines, area codes, and toy “tin can” telephones. Each of these reflect a particular way of organizing a network. Each arose during the 19th and 20th centuries as telephone engineers faced the ...