Thomas Edison
Admiral Dewey:
“You may fire when
ready, Gridley.”
Senor Marconi and the Yacht Race
James
Gordon
Bennett
Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World
Joseph
Pulitzer
Nellie Bly, special reporter for the New
York World
Faraday’s magnetic circuit
Maxwell’s light theory
Hertz wave device
Queen Victoria’s “Alberta”
The Transatlantic Cable: 1858 to 1866;
top left: pieces of the 1858 cable system;
top right: The Agamemnon and the Whale
Lee De Forest and
Reginald Fessenden and
John Stone (no picture)
Galveston, Texas 1900
The Marconi business model
• Don’t sell the equipment
• Lease the service
• Charge a regular,
predictable rate for
dependable wireless
transmission service
• Push notion that wireless
is not just technology, but
a “system”
Marconi’s Cape Cod station
Inventors and Navy discover
each other
• U.S. notes that Japan
used wireless very
effectively in Russo
Japanese war
• Germany nationalizes
wireless after Prince
Henry crisis
• Entrepreneurs see
Navy as gravy train
Theodore Roosevelt
negotiates settlement to
Russo-Japanese War, 1905
SIR JOSEPH.
When I was a lad I served a term
As office boy to an Attorney's firm.
I cleaned the windows and I swept the
floor,
And I polished up the handle of the big
front door.
CHORUS.
He polished up the handle of the big
front door.
SIR JOSEPH.
I polished up that handle so
carefullee
That now I am the Ruler of the
Queen's Navee!
CHORUS.
He polished up that handle so
carefullee,
That now he is the ruler of the
Queen's Navee.
SIR JOSEPH.
As office boy I made such a mark
That they gave me the post of a junior clerk.
I served the writs with a smile so bland,
And I copied all the letters in a big round hand.
CHORUS.
He copied all the letters
in a big round hand.
SIR JOSEPH.
I copied all the letters in a
hand so free,
That now I am the Ruler of
the Queen's Navee!
CHORUS.
He copied all the letters
in a hand so free,
That now he is the
Ruler of the Queen's
Navee!
SIR JOSEPH.
In serving writs I made
such a name
That an articled clerk I
soon became;
I wore clean collars and
a brand-new suit
For the pass
examination at the
Institute.
CHORUS.
For the pass
examination at the
Institute.
SIR JOSEPH.
That pass examination
did so well for me,
That now I am the
Ruler of the Queen's
Navee!
CHORUS.
That pass examination
did so well for he,
That now he is the
Ruler of the Queen's
Navee!
SIR JOSEPH.
Of legal knowledge I acquired such
a grip
That they took me into the
partnership.
And that junior partnership, I ween,
Was the only ship that I ever had
seen.
CHORUS.
Was the only ship that he ever had
seen.
SIR JOSEPH.
But that kind of ship
so suited me,
That now I am the ruler of the Queen's Navee!
CHORUS.
But that kind of ship so suited he,
That now he is the ruler
of the Queen's Navee!
SIR JOSEPH.
I grew so rich that I was
sent
By a pocket borough into
Parliament.
I always voted at my party's
call,
And I never thought of
thinking for myself at all.
CHORUS.
He never thought of
thinking for himself at all.
SIR JOSEPH.
I thought so little, they rewarded me
By making me the Ruler of the Queen's Navee!
CHORUS.
He thought so little, they rewarded he
By making him the Ruler of the Queen's Navee!
SIR JOSEPH.
Now landsmen all,
whoever you may be,
If you want to rise to
the top of the tree,
If your soul isn't
fettered to an office
stool,
Be careful to be guided
by this golden rule.
CHORUS.
Be careful to be guided
by this golden rule.
SIR JOSEPH.
Stick close to your desks
and never go to sea,
And you all may be rulers of
the Queen's Navee!
CHORUS.
Stick close to your desks
and never go to sea,
And you all may be rulers of
the Queen's Navee!
We don’t care; we don’t have to; we’re the Navy
• We don’t care
about your
patents
• We don’t care
about your bottom
line expenses
• We don’t care
about paying you
on time
• We don’t care
about your need
to build equipment
for consumers
• Nothing personal.
Players in the fight over
broadcasting
• Marconi
• The Entrepreneurs
(DeForest and others)
• The Navy
• The Press
• Public opinion
Fessenden’s Christmas radio
broadcast, 1906
De Forest Fleming valve
1909: Jack Binns
saves the Republic
and Florida ships
via wireless
The Radio Act of 1912
• Any "person, company, or
corporation" using a radio
transmitter must have a
license
• Issued by the Department
of Commerce
• Navy exempt from this
statute
• Navy given best
frequencies
• Amateurs given the worst
• Navy has right to clear
airwaves upon reception of
a distress signal
Crisis over AT&T’s power
• AT&T had by 1910
bought out many
independent
telephone companies
• Often by bribery or
outright political
influence
• It also controlled
Western Union
Telegraph
The interconnectivity problem
• Should AT&T have to offer long distance connections to
independent telephone companies?
• Should Marconi operators have to communicate with
other wireless services
• Should all instant messenger services be able to
communicate with each other?
• Should big phone/broadband companies today offer
access to all servers at equal rates for comparable
bandwidth use?
• Should cable companies have to run all TV digital
multichannels?
The Kingsbury Commitment of
1913
• AT&T VP Nathan
Kingsbury sends letter to
Attorney General,
promising:
– To divest itself of Western
Union
– To provide access to its
wires to independents for
long distance service
– To stop acquiring new local
companies without
permission of state utilities
commissions
The 1919 RCA Deal
•
•
•
•
British Marconi sells its
American division
General Electric and
American Marconi start a new
corporation: The Radio
Corporation of America
RCA sells and leases
wireless equipment in the
U.S., manufactured by G.E. in
cooperation with AT&T and
Westinghouse
The deal establishes
precedent:
Corporations will control
broadcasting in the United
States, with some regulation
and anti-trust oversight by the
state
KDKA in 1920
The constitutive choices of radio
and telephone
• Don’t nationalize or build publicly owned
alternatives
• Instead:
– Regulate via government agencies in
coordination with the private sector
– Constantly threaten (er, oversee) the private
sector via anti-trust actions