Feeling Connected

We hardly think about having electronic connections with the rest of the world these days. 150 years ago, though, connecting America to Europe instantaneously was an emerging idea. PBS has an informative documentary on Cyrus Field's trans-Atlantic commercialization of Samuel Morse's invention of the telegraph.

As a study in commercialization, the formation of the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company illustrates how ideas turn into valuable innovation. Working with Frederick Gisborne, Field raised money to lay the first cable across the Atlantic. Although the first cable failed, Field's persistence paid off as improvements in other technology (notably, ship building) made it easier to lay a second cable.

As Field's initial failure came under government scrutiny, the nascent electronics industry was required to develop better nomenclature, measurement, and standards. The terms "volt," "ampere," and "watt" came into existence around 1870 to describe units of potential, current, and power, respectively.

When Field finally got his second cable to work between America and Ireland in 1866, users paid $10 per word, or about $120 per word in today's money, to send information instantaneously that would take two weeks to travel by boat. That's roughly a $1,000 per byte premium to ocean travel.

How has the market changed in the 140 years since? If you use a satellite, you can wirelessly connect almost any two points on the globe. If you use all the bandwidth available on a satellite, you could transmit about one billion times faster than Field's trans-Atlantic operation at about one trillionth the price.