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" I think that computers today allow us one last opportunity to provide something like a level playingfield in America."
- William Gibson
 |
| Telautograph | ||
| First fictional reference to a fax machine. |
This is probably the first mention of a device for sending a signature (or other created graphic image) via telephone in fiction; it is the essence of a fax machine.
| She hesitated, and then, impulsively, "I wonder if it would be too much to ask you for your autograph?"
Ralph then attached the Telautograph to his Telephot while the girl did the same. When both instruments were connected he signed his name and he saw his signature appear simultaneously on the machine in Switzerland. |
| Technovelgy from Ralph 124c 41 +,
by Hugo Gernsback. Published by Modern Electrics in 1911 Additional resources -
|
Gernsback did not invent the fax machine, or even the idea of sending an image using a telephone. In 1862 the Italian physicist Giovanni Casellie built the pantelegraph which was used by the French Post and Telegraph agency between Paris and Marseilles from 1856 to 1870. The word is a combination of "pantograph" and "telegraph." A pantograph is a device that has a simple physical connection between a pointer and a drawing pen on a piece of paper. By altering the linkage between the pointer and the pen, the scale of the drawing could be increased or decreased. The pantograph dates from 1630. Thomas Jefferson thought they were cool; he built one into Monticello.
The telautograph machine itself was invented by Elisha Gray in 1888 and was displayed at the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. It's purpose was to send handwriting via telegraph lines. See a good article on it at Telautograph Forerunner to Modern Fax.
The first instance of a photograph being sent electronically was in 1902 using a process called telephotography. Find out more at Invention of the Fax Machine
The essential business purpose of a facsimile (or fax) machine is to send a piece of paper with a legal signature. Electronic signatures have made slow progress; it is still a problem with electronic medical records, among other uses.
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Tech news articles related to Ralph 124c 41 +
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Telautograph-related
news articles:
- LongPen By Unotchit: Margaret Atwood's Telautograph For Book Signing
| Huawei Pura X Folding Phattie Phone |
| Positioned Cybertrucks With Free Starlinks WiFi In LA |
| Will Whales Be Our First Contact? |
| NYC/Dublin Portal Fails To Meet 'Guardian Of Forever' Standards |
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'You couldn't have the capstone without the pyramid to hold it up.'
'the unobtrusive inspections with tiny remote-cast snoopers...'
I'm hoping that this procedure becomes a normal part of medical practice!
'... nothing was perfected until M. Pantalon announced the completion of his automatic valet.'
'...its streets were of remarkable width, with few or no buildings so high as mosques, churches, State-offices, or palaces in Tellurian cities.'
'...it was all composed of tiny, identical cubes, carefully laid to form a tilelike surface.'
