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TELEGRAPH DOES MIRACLE IN DISTANCE COMMUNICATION TELEX AND TELEPHONE ENTHRALL PRINT COMMUNICATION

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Introduction to Mass Communication ­ MCM 101
VU
LESSON 15
TELEGRAPH DOES MIRACLE IN DISTANCE COMMUNICATION
TELEX AND TELEPHONE ENTHRALL PRINT COMMUNICATION
It was undoubtedly a historic day when scientist Samuel Morse on May 14, 1844 successfully established a
link between Baltimore and Washington DC by transmitting the first tele message `What hath God wrought'
on a device invented by him and which we know as telegraph today.
By this date, it was almost 150 years that print media was active but was not finding way to reach to a large
audience in a short time. There were no rails and motorcars. Transport system was as fast as fresh horses
could maintain it. In rains and harsh weathers communication was blocked.
The news of sending message by wire to a reasonable distance in real time was received with great warmth
by the print industry across the world which was assessing a bright future for it was not possible to reach
larger number of people and at a distance not possible to cover before.
How telegraph system came about?
Fires, smoke signals, and drums have been used since antiquity to transmit messages over long
distances. The term telegraph was coined by scientist Claude Chappe to describe such methods, a version of
which was invented by him and his brothers to signal each other while in school. In 1793 Chappe
introduced in France a form of this system for the transmission of messages based on stations with towers
using a code to transmit signals by the position of crossed arms.
The idea of the electric telegraph was born when the first experimenters with electricity noticed that electric
charges could travel through wires over distances. In 1753 in Scotland Charles Morrison described a system
of 26 wires for transmitting the 26 letters of the alphabet. Electrostatic charges traveling through these wires
deflected suspended balls at the receiving station. However, this was never developed as a practical system.
During the early 19th century, several scientists experimented with the transmission of messages through
electric wires. At this time scientists had gained access to a steady, low-voltage source of electricity. Karl
Friedrich Gauss and Wilhelm Weber transmitted signals over wires and detected them with sensitive
galvanometers around 1833. In England Charles Wheatstone developed a telegraph with a five-needle
galvanometer that indicated the transmitted letters. The Wheatstone telegraph actually came into use,
linking Liverpool with Manchester in 1839. In Germany Carl Steinheil developed a telegraph that printed
coded messages on a ribbon.
The electromagnet, a magnet whose field appears when current is on and disappears when it is off, was
discovered in the 1820s. The American painter Samuel Morse first became acquainted with an
electromagnet when it was shown to him by a young chemist he met on a transatlantic ship. Morse realized
that a magnet turning on and off by transmission of a current from a distant source could be used to send
messages. He soon enlisted America's greatest scientist of the time, Joseph Henry, to develop ways to cause
an electromagnet to work at a distance. The electric telegraph became truly functional with the idea of using
a code of dots and dashes to transmit the letters of the alphabet. Despite this technical help, Morse is given
credit for the invention because he put together a practical system and got people to accept it.
Morse patented his telegraph in 1837 and officially inaugurated a link between Baltimore, Maryland, and
Washington, DC, on May 14, 1844, by transmitting the message "What hath God wrought." The message
was transmitted by a telegraph key, a special switch that allows an electric current to be rapidly switched in
and out; it was printed in the dot-dash code on ribbons of paper.
Morse's telegraph quickly spread in the United States, and later it superseded the existing systems of
Wheatstone and Steinheil in Europe. In 1862, 240,000 km (150,000 mi) of telegraph cable covered the
world, of which 77,000 km (48,000 mi) were in the United States and 24,000 km (15,000 mi) in Great
Britain. Europe and the United States became linked by an underwater telegraph cable in 1866.
All rapid long-distance communication within private and public sectors depended on the telegraph
throughout the remainder of the nineteenth century. Applications were many: Railroads used the Morse
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Introduction to Mass Communication ­ MCM 101
VU
telegraph to aid in the efficiency and safety of railroad operations, the Associated Press to dispatch news,
industry for the transmission of information about stocks and commodities, and the general public to send
messages. The telegraph's military value was demonstrated during the Civil War (1861­1865) as a way to
control troop deployment and intelligence. However, the rival technologies of the telephone and radio
would soon replace the telegraph as a primary source of communication.
Days of the Morse Code
Data was transmitted at about four to
six bits per second in the latter half of the
1800s, which was as fast as a human hand could
tap out Morse code. The unit on the right is the
telegraph key. A metal bar on the receiver (left)
simply banged against another bar when the
current passed through, creating a clicking
sound.
The print medium was still enjoying from the
facility of telegraph that another great facility was made available to it as the period of industrial growth got
into top gear in the 19th century. The new invention was telephone ­ a point to point messaging facility by
spoken words. The information conveying system by reporters of the print media and talking to men-in-
power for obtaining information and passing on to millions others the next day seemed as a dream come
true.
Telephone in historic perspective
Throughout history, people have devised methods for communicating over long distances. The
earliest methods involved crude systems such as drum beating or smoke signaling. These systems evolved
into optical telegraphy and by the early 1800s, electric telegraphy. The first simple telephones, which were
comprised of a long string and two cans, were known in the early eighteenth century.
A working electrical voice-transmission system was first demonstrated by Johann Philipp Reis in 1863. His
machine consisted of a vibrating membrane that opened or closed an electric circuit. While Reis only used
his machine to demonstrate the nature of sound, other inventors tried to find more practical applications of
this technology. They were found by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 when he was awarded a patent for the
first operational telephone. This invention proved to revolutionize the way people communicate throughout
the world.
Bell's interest in telephony was primarily derived from his background in vocal physiology and his speech
instruction to the deaf. His breakthrough experiment occurred on June 2, 1875. He and his assistant,
Thomas Watson, were working on a harmonic telegraph. When a reed stuck on Watson's transmitter an
intermittent current was converted to a continuous current. Bell was able to hear the sound on his receiver
confirming his belief that sound could be transmitted and reconverted through an electric wire by using a
continuous electric current.
The original telephone design that Bell patented was much different than the phone we know today. In a
real sense, it was just a modified version of a telegraph. The primary difference was that it could transmit
true sound. Bell continued to improve upon his design. After two years, he created a magnetic telephone
which was the precursor to modern phones. This design consisted of a transmitter, receiver, and a magnet.
The transmitter and receiver each contained a diaphragm, which is a metal disk. During a phone call, the
vibrations of the caller's voice caused the diaphragm in the transmitter to move. This motion was
transferred along the phone line to the receiver. The receiving diaphragm began vibrating thereby producing
sound and completing the call.
While the magnetic phone was an important breakthrough, it had significant drawbacks. For example,
callers had to shout to overcome noise and voice distortions. Additionally, there was a time lapse in the
transmission which resulted in nearly incoherent conversations. These problems were eventually solved as
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Introduction to Mass Communication ­ MCM 101
VU
the telephone underwent numerous design changes. The first phones made available to consumers used a
single microphone. This required the user to speak into it and then put it to the ear to listen. Thomas
Edison introduced a model that had a moveable listening earpiece and stationary speaking tube. When
placing a call, the receiver was lifted and the user was connected directly to an operator who would then
switch wires manually to transmit. In 1878, the first manual telephone exchange was opened. It served 21
customers in New Haven, Connecticut. Use of the telephone spread rapidly and in 1891, the first automatic
number calling mechanism was introduced.
Long-distance service was first made available in 1881. However, the transmission rates were not good and
it was difficult to hear. In 1900, two workers at Bell System designed loading coils that could minimize
distortions. In 1912, the vacuum tube was adapted to the phone as an amplifier. This made it possible to
have a transcontinental phone line, first demonstrated in 1915. In 1956, a submarine cable was laid across
the Atlantic to allow transatlantic telephone communication. The telecommunication industry was
revolutionized in 1962 when orbiting communication satellites were utilized. In 1980, a fiber-optic system
was introduced, again revolutionizing the industry.
Background
Telephones still operate on the same basic principles that Bell introduced over one hundred years
ago. If a person wishes to make a call, they pick up the handset. This causes the phone to be connected to a
routing network. When the numbers are pressed on a touch-tone keypad, signals are sent down the phone
line to the routing station. Here, each digit is recognized as a combination of tone frequencies. The specific
number combination causes a signal to be sent to another phone causing it to ring. When that phone is
picked up, a connection between the two phones is initiated.
The mouthpiece acts as a microphone. Sound waves from the user's voice cause a thin, plastic disk inside
the phone to vibrate. This changes the distance between the plastic disk and another metal disk. The
intensity of an electric field between the two disks is changed as a result and a varying electric current is sent
down the phone line. The receiver on the other phone picks up this current. As it enters the receiver, it
passes through a set of electromagnets. These magnets cause a metal diaphragm to vibrate. This vibration
reproduces the voice that initiated the current. An amplifier in the receiver makes it easier to hear. When
one of the phones is hung up the electric current is broken, causing all of the routing connections to be
released.
The system of transmission presented describes what happens during a local call. It varies slightly for other
types of calls such as long distance or cellular. Long distance calls are not always connected directly through
wires. In some cases, the signal is converted to a satellite dish signal and transmitted via a satellite. For
cellular phones, the signal is sent to a cellular antenna. Here, it is sent via radio waves to the appropriate cell
phone.
With the combination of telegraph and telephone systems, scientists worked to hand over print media
another great facility in the form of telex
Telex
By 1935, message routing was the last great barrier to full automation. Large telegraphy providers
began to develop systems that used telephone-like rotary dialing to connect teletypes. These machines were
called "telex". Telex machines first performed rotary-telephone-style pulse dialing, and then sent baud dots
code. This "type A" telex routing functionally automated message routing.
The first wide-coverage telex network was implemented in Germany during the 1930s. The network was
used to communicate within the government. At the then-blinding rate of 45.5 bits per second, up to 25
telex channels could share a single long-distance telephone channel, making telex the least expensive
method of reliable long-distance communication.
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Table of Contents:
  1. MASS COMMUNICATION – AN OVERVIEW:Relationships, Power
  2. EARLY MASS COMMUNICATION AND PRINTING TECHNOLOGY
  3. SEVEN CENTURIES OF MASS COMMUNICATION – FROM PRINTING TO COMPUTER
  4. ELEMENTS OF COMMUNICATION AND EARLY COMMUNICATION MODELS
  5. COMMUNICATION MODELS – GRAPHIC PRESENTATION OF COMPLEX ISSUES
  6. TYPES AND FORMS OF COMMUNICATION:Inter personal, Combination
  7. MESSAGE – ROOT OF COMMUNICATION I:VERBAL MESSAGE, Static Evaluation
  8. MESSAGE – ROOT OF COMMUNICATION II:Conflicts, Brevity of Message
  9. EFFECTS OF COMMUNICATION:Helping Out Others, Relaxation
  10. COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE:Enculturation, Acculturation
  11. LANGUAGE IN COMMUNICATION:Polarization, Labeling, Static meanings
  12. STEREOTYPING – A TYPICAL HURDLE IN MASS COMMUNICATION:Stereotype Groups
  13. MASS MEDIA – HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE:Early analysis on manuscripts
  14. EMERGENCE OF PRINT MEDIA AROUND THE WORLD:Colonial journalism
  15. TELEGRAPH DOES MIRACLE IN DISTANCE COMMUNICATION TELEX AND TELEPHONE ENTHRALL PRINT COMMUNICATION
  16. TYPES OF PRINT MEDIA:Newspapers, Magazines, Books
  17. PRESS FREEDOM, LAWS AND ETHICS – NEW DEBATE RAGING STILL HARD
  18. INDUSTRIALIZATION OF PRINT PROCESSES:Lithography, Offset printing
  19. EFFECTS OF PRINT MEDIA ON SOCIETY:Economic ideas, Politics
  20. ADVERTISING – HAND IN HAND WITH MEDIA:Historical background
  21. RENAISSANCE AND SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION: ROLE OF PRINT MEDIA:Science
  22. RECAP:Elements of communication, Books, Printing, Verbal Message
  23. MEDIA MANAGEMENT:Division, Business section, Press
  24. IMAGES IN MASS COMMUNICATION – INVENTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY:Portrait photography
  25. MOTION PICTURES – A NEW WAY IN MASS COMMUNICATION-I:Definition
  26. MOTION PICTURES – A NEW WAY IN MASS COMMUNICATION (Cont...):Post-Studio Era
  27. FILM MEDIA IN SUBCONTINENT AND PAKISTAN-I:Accusations of plagiarism
  28. FILM MEDIA IN SUBCONTINENT AND PAKISTAN (II) & ITS EFFECTS:First Color film
  29. PROPAGANDA:Types in another manner, Propaganda in revolutions
  30. RADIO – A BREAKTHROUGH IN MASS COMMUNICATION:What to broadcast
  31. EFFECTS OF RADIO ON SOCIETY:Entertainment, Information, Jobs
  32. TELEVISION – A NEW DIMENSION IN MASS COMMUNICATION:Early Discoveries
  33. TV IN PAKISTAN:Enthusiasm, Live Broadcast, PTV goes colored
  34. EFFECTS OF TELEVISION ON SOCIETY:Seeing is believing, Fashion
  35. PUBLIC RELATIONS AND MASS COMMUNICATION - I:History, Case Study
  36. PUBLIC RELATIONS AND MASS COMMUNICATION - II:Audience targeting
  37. ADVERTISING BEYOND PRINT MEDIA:Covert advertising
  38. IMPACT OF ADVERTISING:Trial, Continuity, Brand Switching, Market Share
  39. MEDIA THEORIES:Libertarian Theory, Social Responsibility Theory
  40. NEW MEDIA IN MASS COMMUNICATION:Technology forcing changes
  41. GLOBALIZATION OF MEDIA:Media and consumerism, Media centralization
  42. MEDIA MERGENCE:Radio, TV mergence, Economic reasons
  43. MASS MEDIA IN PRESENT AGE:Magazine, Radio, TV
  44. CRITICISM ON MEDIA:Sensationalize, Biasness, Private life, obscenity
  45. RECAP:Legends of South Asian Film Industry, Radio, Television, PTV goes colored