At its very birth, the telegraph system became the handmaiden of commerce. These were the words of the National Telegraph Review and Operator’s Companion, a trusted industry publication written in 1853. Tom Standage’s The Victorian Internet is an exploration of Samuel Morse’s contribution to global communication. To the reader, it became clear that Morse’s invention was the foundation of the technologies that we hold so dear. These include our television, the telephone, and the internet. The telegraph was the basis of America’s electronic commerce operation. Morse’s famed code was the predecessor to today’s communications methods. Tom Standage’s own words:
