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Radio Pioneer Marconi

Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2023 1:10 am
by tasar
I thought this was significant...
On this day in history, December 12, 1901, Guglielmo Marconi sends first transatlantic radio message

https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/this- ... io-message

Re: Radio Pioneer Marconi

Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2023 1:53 am
by TC Chris
We take so much for granted. My computer is working via wi-fi and I'm listening to FM radio. My grandparents' generation remembered the coming of the telephone in homes, and indoor plumbing, and electric lighting. The world was a much different place in 1901 and the experience of life commensurately different. It's impossible to fully understand what life was like then. There were phonograph records, but most entertainment was either in homes (lots of people had pianos and guitars) or on stage.

But in less than 20 years, KDKA began commercial broadcasting, and in 23 years Crosly was building the little model VI that sits over to my right on the shelf so people at home could listen in. In 26 years my grandfather would buy his first AC-powered, one-knob-tuned RCA Radiola 17 that's sitting out in my garage. Life changed rapidly. The "two-way wrist radio" in Dick Tracy cartoons was a fantasy when I was a kid and now everybody has far more sophisticated devices in their pockets.

I was using a fax machine at work yesterday, and I was frustrated by how slow it was. C'mon, c'mon. While I was tapping my foot I remembered the first time I faxed something. It was probably around 1987. We had to get some written testimony back to an expert witness that day. So first we had to determine what protocol the machine at his end used, and then we had to find one in town that we could use that would talk to his. It was very complicated. But it was faster than overnight delivery. Now the devices are so antiquated that they may be hard to find once again after being ubiquitous.

So yeah, thank you, Mr. Marconi, for kicking the world ahead a few notches.

Chris Campbell

Re: Radio Pioneer Marconi

Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2023 2:07 am
by William
Thanks for sharing, ?Dave.

Bill