Scott Berkun

Cell text messages = the telegraph?

One great read from the innovation book research was Tom Standage’s The Victorian Internet. Among other great histories inside is coverage of the early telegraph, which includes this bit of trivia. Early telegraphers had shorthand, much like today’s cell phone messages, to make best use of the characters sent.

Here’s some of the examples listed:

I I = I am ready
GA = Go Ahead
SFD = Stop for Dinner
GM = Good morning
1 = Wait a moment
2 = Get answer immediately

Despite all our bandwidth and fancy protocols, when it comes to efficiency, we’re right back in step with the 19th century.
Makes you wonder why we think of progress as a straight line when it so often seems more like a spiral.

• Posted Tuesday, December 12th, 2006 at 8:57 pm


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