quote · Legacy record
We may say then that the contribution of the telegraph to public discourse was to dignify irrelevance and amplify impotence. But this was not all: Telegraphy also made public discourse essentially incoherent. It brought into being a world of broken time and broken attention, to use Lewis Mumford's phrase. The principle strength of the telegraph was its capacity to move information, not collect it, explain it or analyze it. In this respect, telegraphy was the exact opposite of typography.
We may say then that the contribution of the telegraph to public discourse was to dignify irrelevance and amplify impotence. But this was not all: Telegraphy also made public discourse essentially incoherent. It brought into being a world of broken time and broken attention, to use Lewis Mumford's phrase. The principle strength of the telegraph was its capacity to move information, not collect it, explain it or analyze it. In this respect, telegraphy was the exact opposite of typography.
Approximate author period: c. 1967 AD · modern
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- Author or tradition
- Neil Postman
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
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- Approximate author period: c. 1967 AD · modern
Approximate period for the recorded attribution to Neil Postman, based on documented lifetime 1931 to 2003. Source: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q436131 (checked 2026-10-08). This is not a quotation composition date or independent authentication of its attribution. Source: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q436131 (accessed 2026-10-08).
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 279333; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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