0:00:03.483,0:00:06.334 In 1832, mathematician, Carl Gauss, 0:00:06.334,0:00:08.700 and physics professor, Wilhelm Weber, 0:00:08.700,0:00:10.942 designed a system which allowed them to communicate 0:00:10.942,0:00:14.005 at a distance while they worked on their experiments – 0:00:14.005,0:00:18.241 connecting the observatory with the physical laboratory. 0:00:18.241,0:00:20.606 They solved a really important problem, 0:00:20.606,0:00:22.868 which was more of a puzzle: 0:00:22.868,0:00:25.047 how to send all letters of the alphabet 0:00:25.047,0:00:28.100 using one circuit – or a line. 0:00:28.100,0:00:30.560 And their system used a galvanometer, 0:00:30.560,0:00:33.407 since it was known that electric current, passing through 0:00:33.407,0:00:35.719 a coil, creates a magnetic field pointing through 0:00:35.719,0:00:39.086 the center of the loop, which could deflect a needle. 0:00:39.086,0:00:42.047 But instead of merely moving a needle at a distance, 0:00:42.047,0:00:44.922 their system used a switch which could reverse 0:00:44.922,0:00:48.798 the direction of current instantly. 0:00:48.798,0:00:50.409 This would cause the magnetic field 0:00:50.409,0:00:52.349 around the coil to reverse, 0:00:52.349,0:00:55.918 and the needle would deflect either to the right or left, 0:00:55.918,0:00:58.268 depending on the direction of current – 0:00:58.268,0:01:02.035 thus, giving them two different signaling events – 0:01:02.035,0:01:05.927 or 'symbols' – right or left deflection. 0:01:05.927,0:01:08.666 Most importantly, he assigned shorter 0:01:08.666,0:01:11.913 symbols for the most common letters. 0:01:11.913,0:01:14.658 [For instance,] 'A' was a single right deflection. 0:01:14.658,0:01:17.384 And 'E' was a single left deflection. 0:01:17.384,0:01:20.406 And he used the longer codes for less common letters, 0:01:20.406,0:01:25.501 such as 'K,' which was three right deflections. 0:01:25.501,0:01:28.658 And at the time, the speed of transmission 0:01:28.658,0:01:33.119 was around nine letters per minute. 0:01:33.119,0:01:35.656 All the needle telegraphs which followed 0:01:35.656,0:01:38.079 suffered from a similar limitation – 0:01:38.079,0:01:41.287 and it was an engineering problem. 0:01:41.287,0:01:44.209 The 'signaling rate' was slow. 0:01:44.209,0:01:45.900 Now the the signaling rate was the 0:01:45.900,0:01:48.182 number of deflections per minute 0:01:48.182,0:01:51.429 which could be accurately transmitted and received. 0:01:51.429,0:01:53.590 And if you squished signaling events together, 0:01:53.590,0:01:56.101 the receiver would get confused, due to jitter – 0:01:56.101,0:01:57.779 resulting in errors – 0:01:57.779,0:02:01.395 similar to how sustained notes on a piano will bleed 0:02:01.395,0:02:06.425 together and become less recognizable – if you play rapidly. 0:02:06.425,0:02:08.454 And over time, the signaling rate 0:02:08.454,0:02:11.023 was incrementally improved. 0:02:11.023,0:02:12.368 One improvement was to add 0:02:12.368,0:02:15.916 a small permanent magnet to the outside of the coil. 0:02:15.916,0:02:17.689 This helped pull the needle back to 0:02:17.689,0:02:20.621 neutral position, after each deflection. 0:02:20.621,0:02:22.778 And these designs led to a wide range of 0:02:22.778,0:02:26.613 needle telegraphs, which were deployed across Europe. 0:02:26.613,0:02:29.026 The Electric Telegraph Company 0:02:29.026,0:02:32.201 was the first public telegraph company. 0:02:32.201,0:02:35.608 It was formed, in 1846, after its owners purchased 0:02:35.608,0:02:39.339 the key needle-telegraph patents at the time. 0:02:42.150,0:02:45.633 But the speed of these various needle telegraphs 0:02:45.633,0:02:50.316 never surpassed around 60 letters per minute – 0:02:54.252,0:02:57.097 as each needle couldn't signal much faster than 0:02:57.097,0:02:59.829 one deflection per second. 0:02:59.829,0:03:02.392 And initially, the company billed customers 0:03:02.392,0:03:04.587 based on single messages – 0:03:04.587,0:03:07.269 which could hold up to twenty words – 0:03:07.269,0:03:09.822 which is about the length of a 'tweet.' 0:03:09.822,0:03:13.579 And by 1848, the cost of sending a single message 0:03:13.579,0:03:17.728 from London to Edinburgh was sixteen shillings. 0:03:17.728,0:03:19.859 And this was around one week's salary for, say, 0:03:19.859,0:03:23.422 a shop owner at the time. 0:03:23.422,0:03:25.427 So this technology was initially 0:03:25.427,0:03:29.747 out of the [reach] of common people. 0:03:29.747,0:03:32.988 In the United States, the commercialization of the telegraph 0:03:32.988,0:03:36.834 was led by a portrait painter, named Samuel Morse, 0:03:36.834,0:03:38.092 who had followed development 0:03:38.092,0:03:41.130 of the needle telegraphs in Europe. 0:03:41.130,0:03:43.690 Morse is important. because he focused on 0:03:43.690,0:03:47.520 speeding up the rate at which letters could travel. 0:03:47.520,0:03:49.659 He did away with needles. 0:03:49.659,0:03:53.158 And in [1838], he initially submitted a patent 0:03:53.158,0:03:55.640 based on the idea that electric current 0:03:55.640,0:03:58.340 could either flow or be interrupted – 0:03:58.340,0:04:03.185 and interruptions could be organized to create meaning. 0:04:03.185,0:04:06.335 Though his designs on how to produce these interruptions 0:04:06.335,0:04:09.399 were complicated – involving a convoluted system of 0:04:09.399,0:04:12.264 gears, levers and electromagnets. 0:04:12.264,0:04:14.938 However, his system was greatly simplified 0:04:14.938,0:04:18.643 after his collaborations with Alfred Vail. 0:04:18.643,0:04:21.756 This led to an iconic piece of user interface – 0:04:21.756,0:04:25.721 the simple spring-loaded lever – or 'key' – 0:04:25.721,0:04:29.218 which could be controlled with the tap of a finger. 0:04:29.218,0:04:32.532 And on the receiving end was a spring-loaded lever 0:04:32.532,0:04:34.560 that could be pulled and released 0:04:34.560,0:04:37.389 by a strong electromagnet. 0:04:44.912,0:04:49.106 To create a difference akin to the left-right deflection, 0:04:49.106,0:04:55.050 he varied the length of a key press, or the pulse width. 0:04:55.050,0:04:58.368 The closure of a switch for a very short time 0:04:58.368,0:05:00.499 was called a 'dot.' 0:05:00.499,0:05:02.489 And the dot can be thought of as 0:05:02.489,0:05:07.390 the basic unit of time in Morse code. 0:05:07.390,0:05:09.192 And the closure of the switch 0:05:09.192,0:05:12.672 for three units of time represented a 'dash.' 0:05:12.672,0:05:18.145 [SOUND OF LETTERS BEING SENT BY MORSE CODE.] 0:05:18.145,0:05:20.800 Spacing exactly right. 0:05:20.800,0:05:23.054 Very small, tight spaces between 0:05:23.054,0:05:25.861 the dits and dahs in a character. 0:05:25.861,0:05:27.071 Didah dit. 0:05:28.423,0:05:30.079 [LETTER BEING SENT BY MORSE CODE.] 0:05:30.079,0:05:31.042 Didah dit dit. 0:05:31.042,0:05:32.520 [LETTER BEING SENT BY MORSE CODE.] 0:05:33.074,0:05:35.028 And this was the source of difference 0:05:35.028,0:05:37.534 in their coding strategy. 0:05:37.534,0:05:41.873 Starting with an initial dot or dash – left or right branch – 0:05:41.873,0:05:46.170 which then leads to another dot or dash, and so on. 0:05:46.170,0:05:48.796 And the scheme assigned shorter symbol sequences 0:05:48.796,0:05:50.599 to more probable letters – 0:05:50.599,0:05:52.299 based on the letter frequencies – 0:05:52.299,0:05:55.265 which could be tabulated from books. 0:05:55.265,0:05:57.065 So nodes high up in the tree – 0:05:57.065,0:06:00.335 such as a single dot – represented 'E.' 0:06:00.335,0:06:03.125 A single dash represented 'T.' 0:06:03.125,0:06:05.469 And as we move down the tree, 0:06:05.469,0:06:08.037 we place less common letters. 0:06:08.037,0:06:13.727 And after a letter, this system inserts a three-unit pause. 0:06:13.727,0:06:16.683 Spacing between the characters in a word or group 0:06:16.683,0:06:19.411 is uniform too – but longer. 0:06:19.411,0:06:23.065 [LETTERS BEING SENT BY MORSE CODE.] 0:06:23.065,0:06:27.360 It's important to realize that the meaning of these messages 0:06:27.360,0:06:30.280 was intertwined with the timing [used when sending] them. 0:06:30.280,0:06:31.941 Are you wondering if proper spacing 0:06:31.941,0:06:34.061 is really so important? 0:06:34.061,0:06:36.557 Or is it no more than an extra refinement – 0:06:36.557,0:06:39.440 a nice thing to do – like neat handwriting? 0:06:39.440,0:06:42.184 If you think so, you're wrong. And I'll show you why. 0:06:42.184,0:06:47.525 [LETTERS BEING SENT BY MORSE CODE] 0:06:47.525,0:06:50.972 Dit for dit, and dah for dah, they match. 0:06:51.532,0:06:53.408 Only the spacing makes the difference 0:06:53.408,0:06:58.317 between one word and the other. 0:06:58.317,0:06:59.911 So to send the word 'Paris,' 0:06:59.911,0:07:01.747 we would first need to think of it as 0:07:01.747,0:07:06.833 'P [space] A [space] R [space] I [space] S.' 0:07:06.833,0:07:10.396 The signaling rate of this system was directly related 0:07:10.396,0:07:12.585 to the tempo of the signal. 0:07:12.585,0:07:16.372 And music analogies were used inside training videos. 0:07:16.372,0:07:21.110 What he was sending was standard test word: 'PARIS.' 0:07:21.110,0:07:22.837 And there you are. 0:07:22.837,0:07:26.212 Each peak is a dit – or a dah. 0:07:26.212,0:07:29.421 Each valley, a space. 0:07:29.421,0:07:33.606 This is excellent sending. Uniform and rhythmic. 0:07:35.513,0:07:38.666 This is an example of poor hand sending. 0:07:38.666,0:07:43.438 Same word: 'PARIS.' But look at the difference. 0:07:43.438,0:07:48.131 Irregular dits and dahs. Haphazard spacing. 0:07:48.131,0:07:51.726 No uniformity. No rhythm. 0:07:51.726,0:07:55.221 Amazingly, it was the simplicity of this keying system 0:07:55.221,0:07:57.169 which made it much faster 0:07:57.169,0:07:59.205 than any of the buttons and cranks 0:07:59.205,0:08:02.536 employed by the needle telegraphs in Europe. 0:08:02.536,0:08:07.546 The letter rate jumped to 135 letters per minute – 0:08:07.546,0:08:10.518 or more, with trained operators. 0:08:10.518,0:08:15.262 And on May 24th, 1844, the first successful transmission 0:08:15.262,0:08:19.727 was the message, "What hath God wrought?" 0:08:19.727,0:08:22.925 And the next day, it was reported by the New York Tribune 0:08:22.925,0:08:26.109 that, "The miracle of annihilation of space 0:08:26.109,0:08:27.892 is at length performed." 0:08:27.892,0:08:31.333 Consider that, at the time, 90% of messages 0:08:31.333,0:08:34.469 were still transported by horseback. 0:08:34.469,0:08:37.622 Immediately, this technology was becoming critical 0:08:37.622,0:08:40.413 to the success of [the] military, newspapers, 0:08:40.413,0:08:42.654 financial traders, crime-fighting [organizations, etc.]. 0:08:42.654,0:08:46.022 Any business that relied on information 0:08:46.022,0:08:49.291 now relied on the telegraph – and Morse code. 0:08:49.291,0:08:51.785 By 1900, the prices had dropped 0:08:51.785,0:08:54.643 to 30 cents per message – as traffic surged 0:08:54.643,0:09:00.509 to over 63.2 million messages sent that year. 0:09:00.509,0:09:03.907 As people begin using this system, they naturally 0:09:03.907,0:09:06.234 thought of ways to save money. 0:09:06.234,0:09:09.251 This led to popular code books that 0:09:09.251,0:09:12.707 mapped words to common sentences. 0:09:12.707,0:09:16.511 For example, 'Blade' would actually mean 0:09:16.511,0:09:18.882 'Please name and reserve, for myself and family, 0:09:18.882,0:09:20.964 the following accommodations.' 0:09:20.964,0:09:23.081 The telegraph companies frowned upon this, 0:09:23.081,0:09:26.250 as they were happily charging people to be verbose. 0:09:26.250,0:09:28.981 More letters equals more profit. 0:09:28.981,0:09:34.250 It was now clear that information was an elastic term. 0:09:34.250,0:09:36.840 A specific meaning was needed. 0:09:36.840,0:09:39.718 An obvious question remained unanswered. 0:09:39.718,0:09:41.952 If you are [charging to transmit] information – 0:09:41.952,0:09:43.813 no matter the system – 0:09:43.813,0:09:47.597 how should you [charge] to be fair to everyone? 0:09:47.597,0:09:51.054 Number of letters – as a measure of information – 0:09:51.054,0:09:53.471 would no longer suffice.