In the pre-Internet days, transmission of information fall solely to newspaper , telegraph, radio and early television. It takes time b...
In the pre-Internet days, transmission of information fall solely to newspaper, telegraph, radio and early television. It takes time before news spread rapidly before the age of viral videos and Internet memes. But the growth of radio transmission in the 1930's gave futurists and inventors plenty of idea on how information should be disseminated efficiently in a more timely manner.
They have envisioned a radio-facsimile machine that combines the elements of the radio and newspaper where new information are transmitted on radio and printed out as a newspaper. It is important to put into proper perspective that radio competed against newspaper for advertising revenues and every penny counts during the Great Depression.
Interestingly, such concept of sending images by wire was already envisioned decades before. In fact, the first basic fax patent was registered in Paris in 1843 where such machine is operated using a swinging pendulum to print the image. By the 1920s, Western Union and AT&T have already transmitted photos via wire and later adopted by newspapers to send photos for publication across the country. It was RCA who first adopted facsimile to radio where they sent the first transoceanic image of President Calvin Coolidge from New York to London on November 29, 1924.
Interestingly, such concept of sending images by wire was already envisioned decades before. In fact, the first basic fax patent was registered in Paris in 1843 where such machine is operated using a swinging pendulum to print the image. By the 1920s, Western Union and AT&T have already transmitted photos via wire and later adopted by newspapers to send photos for publication across the country. It was RCA who first adopted facsimile to radio where they sent the first transoceanic image of President Calvin Coolidge from New York to London on November 29, 1924.
Unfortunately, radio facsimile never took off as it never got the interest from the general public despite all the promotional photographs showing its benefits. Besides, it was an expensive luxury that people don't have any practical use.
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