"In the XIX century there were no televisions, aeroplanes, computers, or spacecraft; neither were there antibiotics, credit cards, microwave ovens, compact discs, or mobile phones. There was, however, an Internet." -- Tom Standage Here is a speech I gave at a While42 Singapore event (cool French engineers alumni network)

1. French Engineers Alumni Network
Singapore #2
25/07/2013 @Savant Degrees
By Mathieu François
blog.matieux.net

2. No source code today…

3. What is the greatest communication
disruption ever?
…Internet?
Since writing…

4. This is the “Mother of all Networks”

5. From New York to Paris: How long to send news?

6. US Independence (1776) = 6 weeks
It was before telegraph…

7. Lincoln president election (1860) = 2 hours
…It was after telegraph

8. Kennedy president election
(1960) = 1 second
It was before Internet…

9. Obama president election
(2008) = 1 second
…It was after Internet

10. So, who is the greatest disruptor?
Before
6 weeks 1 second
After
2 hours
Er… still 1 second,
no change meh?

11. I. The mother of all networks
II. Hackers and geeks in the XIXth Century
III. Internet revolution, really? 1865 vs 2013

12. By the way, Telegraph is a French invention
Optical telegraph used by Revolution and Napoleon
Remind Minitel anyone?

13. Remember, Internet = “Interconnected Networks”

14. It’s fair to call it the
“Victorian Internet”

15. 2010 innovation: “How do I share my pictures online
with my friends?

16. 1860 innovation: “Let’s pull a 6,000 km telegraph
cable across the Atlantic Ocean”

17. Brunel, one of the crazy guys: his giant ship was
reconverted for cable laying
The “Death Star” of XIXth Century
Watch TED “Tim Brown urges
designers to think big” for more…

18. Asia/Australia connection via Singapore and Penang
Quizz: Why were they chosen as Telegraph hubs?

19. Answer: Rubber
Strategic commodity, used for the cable insulation

20. Telegraph lasted only 1 century, but it changed
everything!

21. I. The mother of all networks
II. Hackers and geeks in the XIXth Century
III. Internet revolution, really? 1865 vs 2013

22. There was an elitist hacker/geek culture among the
Telegraph operators community
Your ability was
evaluated based
on your speed
and accuracy to
send messages…

23. Here is the most famous Telegraph hacker
By the way, he is a real
m***** f***** but this
is another story

24. The sysadmins of the Telegraph...

25. … and pre-Internet nerds:
Telegraphers in remote outposts often preferred on-
line chat to socializing in real life with the locals

26. A key difference : many operators were ladies T_T

27. I. The mother of all networks
II. Hackers and geeks in the XIXth Century
III. Internet revolution, really? 1865 vs 2013

28. “The Highway of Thought” was the more poetic
surname of Telegraph
Information Superhighway?

29. The Internet Telegraph, by linking everyone in a
worldwide network, was expected to promote peace
and democracy
World Peace Utopia?

30. New Telegraph companies became the source of
insane speculation
Stock market bubble?

31. AKA the “International Telegraph Union” (1865)
Standards organizations?

32. Dots and Dashes versus 1s and 0s
Digital?

33. Routers? Trunking?
Telegraph wires to send short "texting" digital data
Pneumatic tubes to send longer messages and small
items (even cats!)

34. During quiet times and after business hours,
operators on-line would break out the IMs and
chatrooms
Online Chat?

35. "Ordinarily an operator can tell a woman the moment
he hears her working the wire […] He tells by her
touch on the key. Women, as a rule, do not touch the
key of their instruments as firmly as men do"
Online Dating?

36. Thomas Edison: “Most of the Tales of the Wires went
unpublished because they were too rude or explicit”
Online Sex?

37. Online Wedding?
1840: the first online wedding, with the bride in
Boston and the groom in New York

38. 1,500 telegraph operators remotely attended
the last telegraph ceremony for Samuel Morse
Social Network?

39. Banks could send money via telegraph wire, leading
to the foundation of Western Union
E-Commerce?

40. One of the first MiM attacks: operators of an optical
telegraph were bribed so they altered business
transaction information
Online Fraud?

41. Users developed their own cryptic code of "smileys"
and abbreviated words to solve network limitations
Compression? Encryption?

42. Lincoln used the telegraph to stay connected to the
forces in the field in almost real time
Online President?

43. Last and most advanced telegraphy mechanism
designed (Phelps, 1880)
Multimedia?

44. Telegraph was perceived as a major threat for
newspapers… the number of current newspapers with
“Telegraph” in their title proves the contrary
Threat for newspapers industry?

45. Epilog

46. Not even digital, what a shame!
1880
The Telegraph Killer

47. What if…
Babbage’s computers had gone into widespread use?

48. …Steampunk would not be a SciFi genre

49. Sources 1/2
• Must-Read!
• Great historical analogy
book written with a
delightful British style

50. Sources 2/2
• Mother Earth Mother Board
– (looong) but very insightful article about the
cabling industry challenges by the Science-Fiction
author Neal Stephenson
• How the World Was One: Towards the Tele-
Family of Man
– Sir Arthur C. Clarke elaborated similar theories
• Plyojump - Computer History
• Mr. Lincoln's T-Mails

51. Questions? Dinner / Makan ?