[ARC5] Alfred Vail - the true inventor of 'Morse' code

[1oldlens1]

It's interesting that the first nationwide business was.Western Union.  People think it was a railroad but no railroad was ever nationwide. Sent from my GalaxyRichard Knoppow Los AngelesWB6KBL
-------- Original message --------From: Jim Haynes <jhhaynes at earthlink.net> Date: 9/25/25  1:59 PM  (GMT-08:00) To: Dave Merrill <r390a.urr at gmail.com> Cc: ARC-5 <ARC5 at mailman.qth.net> Subject: Re: [ARC5] Alfred Vail - the true inventor of 'Morse' code The children's version of history is that Morse invented the telegraph,rattling sounders, green eye shades and all.  The revisionist versionis that Morse was pretty quick to claim inventions that others hadinvented.I think we have to cut Morse some slack in view of what he did andwhat the corporate situation was like in his day.Morse realized that electromagnetism could be the basis of a practicallong-distance telegraph.He realized that a practical telegraph had to work over one wire.  Henceit was necessary to encode the alphabet in some system of symbols thatcan be transmitted electrically to represent the symbols of messagecommunication.He believed there was a market for the service.  This might bebecause his wife died while he was on the road as an itenerant portraitpainter.Then we have to consider what it was like to do a technologicalbusiness in the earlh 1800s.  The U.S. was a new nation having to findits way with business law and technology and a patent system.Financial backers had to find a way to make a profit from a businessthat had its financial assets srewn over hundreds of miles ofwilderness.  How do you establish the monetary value of such abusiness? 	--- 	"Ya can argue all ya wanna, but it's dif'rent than it was." 	"No it ain't! No it ain't!  But ya gotta know the territory." 		Meredith Willson, The Music Man______________________________________________________________ARC5 mailing listHome: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/arc5Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htmPost: mailto:ARC5 at mailman.qth.netThis list hosted by: http://www.qsl.netPlease help support this email list: https://www.qsl.net/donate.html
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