Excerpt from The Victorian Internet:

Excerpt from The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century’s On-Line Pioneers:

“The heyday of the telegrapher as a highly paid, highly skilled information worker was over; telegraphers’ brief tenure as members of an elite community with mastery over a miraculous, cutting-edge technology had come to an end. As the twentieth century dawned, the telegraph’s inventors had died, its community had crumbled, and its golden age had ended.”

Boy, that sounds familiar. (I said that to myself a lot while reading this book.) Quick read, but highly recommended for anyone interested in the Internet. Reviews of The Victorian Internet: Mappa.Mundi Magazine, Byte, John R. Alden. The author also has a Web site that links to some of his other writings.