The Telegraph, a little too late

With the invention of the telegraph, news and information was now able to travel faster and more efficiently then ever before. But at the same time the telegraph was invented and being used, other forms of transportation were improving as well. These improving forms of information transport such as steam power for boats and trains now allowed information to travel faster then before, with improvements each day. The telegraph was very revolutionary and like “Lightning” but it came with high costs and decisions to be made about where to lay the wire and how to lay so much wire from one continent to another.

But many obstacles stood in the way of stretching the new iron cords across continents” (Starr p.153)

This obstacle along with who would invest the money needed to do this was a decision to be made as well. As a new technology at the time, investors were wary as to how good or important the telegraph would become. These issues, along with improvement in shipping and the post office, probably lead to the telegraph having less of a impact then it should have had at that time.