Information Highways And Byways: From The Telegraph To The Twenty-first Century

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Electrical Engineering/Telecommunications Information Highways & Byways From the Telegraph to the 21st Century Irwin Lebow "Most impressive is Lebow’s concentration on the broader issues that shaped telecommunications in America: private- versus public-sector operations, the long history of antitrust and its effect on companies, the role of the military in shaping communications in war and peace, the changing nature of technology, inventors, invention, (and) the role of market niches in providing opportunities for expensive, new technologies to survive, improve and ultimately flourish." Jonathan Coopersmith, Department of History, Texas A & M University. Spanning the entire history of electrical communications, this book tells the story of the many events and breakthroughs that took place, from 150 years ago with the creation of the telegraph to the dynamic, modern world of the Internet and interactive TV. Its characters are not only the technologists, but also the entrepreneurs, who took advantage of the technology, and the litigators, antitrust lawyers, and regulators, who influenced the course of progress. As a veritable case study about how advances in technology cause societal and industrial change, this story provides insight into the turmoil of today’s information and entertainment industries. This book will be of interest to anyone, technical or not, who has a stake in the information age. Also of interest from IEEE Press… Understanding Digital TV: The Route to HDTV Brian T. Evans, Tantara Tek, Ltd. 1995 Softcover 256 pp IEEE Order No. PP4366 ISBN 0-7803-1082-9 Wireless Personal Communications: The Future of Talk Ron Schneiderman, Senior Editor, Microwaves & RF 1994 Hardcover 208 pp IEEE Order No. PC3590 ISBN 0-7803-1010-1

 

Preface.

Acknowledgments.

Introduction.

WIRING UP THE WORLD.

"The American Leonardo".

Expanding the Neighborhood.

The Telegraph and the News.

The Telegraph Goes to War.

Transmitting the Human Voice.

Universal Service.

Establishing Telephone Service.

Extending the Personal Presence.

COMMUNICATION WITHOUT WIRES.

Through the Ether.

The Wireless Goes to Sea.

World War I and Its Aftermath.

The Origins of Broadcasting.

Radio Broadcasting Captures the Nation.

Video Enters the Picture.

The Power of the Picture.

The Wireless Makes a Comeback.

Communication via Space.

THE COMMUNICATION/COMPUTING SYMBIOSIS.

The Computer Makes Its Appearances.

The Transistor.

The Chip.

A "Computer on a Chip".

The Gregarious Computer.

The Aftermath of the ARPANET.

Speeding Up the Written Word.

ON THE WAY TO THE NEXT CENTURY.

Digitizing the Telephone System.

Computers in the Network.

A Natural Monopoly?

The End of Monopoly?

Blurring Traditional Lines.

The Video Scene.

An Information Infrastructure for the Twenty-First Century.

The Way to the New Infrastructure.

Notes.

Index.