Communication always changes society, and society was always organized around communication channels. Two hundred years ago it was mostly rivers. It was sea-lanes and mountain passes. The Internet is another form of communication and commerce. And society organizes around the channels.
—
Vinod Khosla, Inventing the Internet: An Oral History
In the second half of the 1800s, rural mid-west farmers had a tough time obtaining quality and reasonably priced goods from distant Chicago. The introduction of railroad tracks changed all that - tracks as a conduit for exchanging goods is obvious, but it was Montgomery Ward who introduced the mail order catalog (or directory of goods, if you will) to the farmers, thus enabling them to take advantage of this new mode of transportation. Crops and wood went into the city for processing and distribution, furniture, clothing, and books went out to the farmers for consumption.
(via seantice)
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