Gazing Down on the Present from the Top of Telegraph Hill

I really enjoyed this week's reading and videos. The arguments were clearly articulated and described in the essay, and the rationale behind the essay was made evident in the short video clips. I find it fascinating that Carey came to study the telegraph because of a desire to understand the intersection of technology, international banking, and the airline industry. He speaks of "notions of mobility" (first video clip) and how the 19th century equivalent of airlines, banking, and satellite was the emergence of the telegraph. He essentially looked backward in order to identify a framework that he could project onto the development and emergence of other (more modern) technologies. We can similarly use the telegraph to understand some of the technological communications trends that we are experiencing today.

Carey talks about several ways that the telegraph changed "culture and individuals living in culture." (second video clip) Two of these changes are 1) the way in which transactions are executed and 2) the ability for people to participate in the same "system of social relations." (second video clip) The telegraph drove down the costs of transactions in many industries by allowing people to communicate more quickly and by removing the element of transportation that had been tied to communication prior to the telegraph. The telegraph also let people participate in a single system by providing a platform for the new communication and by eventually leading to the establishment of standard time upon which people all over the world could rely.

If we look at our own new technologies, we will find that they, too, are becoming embedded in our culture by the way we perform transactions and by allowing people to participate in social systems. The Internet has drastically changed the way financial transactions are completed - both for institutions and for individuals. Pennies to millions can be moved (transported) with a few clicks of a mouse. Moreover, we are no longer constrained by time. Even when markets and banks are closed, we can still initiate financial transactions. With the Internet, we can save money, spend money, and send money - actions that impact many, many industries.

We can also look to the web to see the changing ways in which we are now able to participate in social systems. Facebook is perhaps the most obvious example. People can connect online without regard for time, geographic location, or transportation. But Facebook hasn't cornered this market. Many companies are jumping on the social system/network bandwagon. There is lots of money to be made connecting people and networks.

Carey writes that the telegraph was able to reconcile people's opposing desires for "peace, harmony, and self-sufficiency with the wish for power, profit, and productivity." (p 207) We can see how our own technologies are positioned to do the exact same thing. We love the self-sufficiency that comes with managing our lives online. And the founder of Facebook is managing a company that was recently valued at nearly $34 billion dollars. Self-sufficiency, meet profit.