GEOG 121 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Electrical Telegraph, York Factory, Understanding Media
Document Summary
Mcluhan, understanding media(1964): the medium is the message . Direct contact: the mail, turnpike roads, animals and ships. Overseas communicaion: take the northwest paciic coast, for example: 1830: over 6 months: london to york factory(hudson bay) overland to fort vancouver (oregon); not much shorter by sea. 1860: 1. 5 months primarily by sea: london to panama (across the isthmus by rail) to san francisco to victoria. Deiniion: an electriied system of long distance communicaion. Wires carried the current along a network of wooden poles. Expansion on land: railroad ariculaion, commercial uses: prices, commercial informaion, military consideraions. Expansion at sea: 1858 first transatlanic cable atempt, 1866 irst working submarine cable across atlanic, 14 years ater successful atempts at land based telegraph. The san francisco to siberia line: 1861: the irst us transconinental telegraph, 1865: new westminster to quesnel (400 miles in 3 months, 1866: line went north to the skeena river, stopped because of transatlanic cable success.
