A century ago, news could travel about 20 miles by telephone. And, since underground cable was not yet invented, masses of wire hung over urban streets-one wire for each conversation.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY
Today, information in any form-voice, video, data, or graphics-is transmitted worldwide at speeds measured in milliseconds. Today's information-age technology looks cleaner and simpler too, all largely the result of the research of the telephone company.
Fiber Optics. One example of this streamlined technology is light-wave communications, a technique which use bursts of laser light, flashing as fast as 44.7 million times a second, to power information over glass fibers. A cable, composed of these hair-thin fibers and measuring in diameter about the same as a pencil, can carry over 80,000 simultaneous conversations.
Satellites. Satellite communications is another example of streamlined communications technology. Voice, video, and data can be beamed from anywhere in......
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