The Victorian Internet

00:05 - 00:31 For thousands of years, the fastest way to send a message was with legs, horses, or boats. Great kings had to wait weeks or even months to reach the edges of their power. As Suetonius the Historian reported in the first century, Julius Caesar was very often arriving before the messenger sent to announce his coming. It was a slow and inefficient world, until the telegraph turned information into pulses of energy.

00:32 - 00:51 Its influence was every bit as significant as the printing press. It didn't just improve communication, it redefined it. Stock markets synchronized, wars were reported in real time, romances bloomed, and entire subcultures began to form. People who lived through the wire, with their own language and customs.

00:52 - 01:12 The role got smaller, not physically, but mentally, politically, and emotionally. If the internet feels overwhelming today, instant messages, real-time maps, constant notifications, it's because we're still living in the world the telegraph created. The protocols are newer and the wires are faster. But the idea is Victorian.