Dot-Dash to Dot.Com - How Modern Telecommunications Evolved from the Telegraph to the Internet

Telecommunications is a major global industry, and this unique book chronicles the development of this complex technology from the electric telegraph to the Internet in a simple, accessible, and entertaining way. The book opens with the early years of the electric telegraph. The reader will learn how the Morse telegraph evolved into an international network that spanned the globe, starting with the development of international undersea cables, and the heroic attempts to lay a trans-Atlantic cable. The book describes the events that led to the invention of the telephone, and the subsequent disputes over who had really invented it. It takes a look at some of the most important applications that have appeared on the Internet, the mobile revolution, and ends with a discussion of future key developments in the telecommunications industry.

List of contents

Acknowledgments.- List of figures.- List of pictures.- List of tables.- About the author.- Introduction.- Chapter 1: The birth of an industry.- Chapter 2: The telegraph goes global.- Chapter 3: A gatecrasher spoils the party.- Chapter 4: Early telephone networks.- Chapter 5: Going digital.- Chapter 6: A bit of wet string.- Chapter 7: The last mile.- Chapter 8: Computers get chatty.- Chapter 9: The birth of the Internet.- Chapter 10: Life in cyberspace.- Chapter 11: The mobile revolution.- Chapter 12: When failure is not an option.- Chapter 13: What comes next?.- Appendices A - Q.- Notes.- Glossary.- Bibliography.- Index.

About the author

Dr. Andrew Wheen trained as an Electrical Engineer, and subsequently completed a Master's degree in Microprocessor Engineering and a Ph.D. in Computer Architecture. Although his interests at the time leaned towards computing rather than telecommunications, he recognized that these two industries were converging rapidly, and concluded that telecommunications would offer great opportunities. After a few years working in hardware and software development for telecommunications manufacturers. Wheen moved into product marketing. He then joined a start-up network operator called Energis. Afte a challenging two years - during which Energis turned from a handbful of people to a full service operator with a nationwide network - he had sufficient knowledge and experience to transfer into management consultancy. Wheen's work in consultancy over the last 14 years has given him an insider's view of many major companies in teh telecoms industry, and a wide circle of contacts. Assignments have covered areas such as the development and evaluation of business plans, technical due diligence, the definition of new network services, vendor management, cost modeling, network architecture, and technology strategy.

Summary

Telecommunications is a major global industry, and this unique book chronicles the development of this complex technology from the electric telegraph to the Internet in a simple, accessible, and entertaining way. The book opens with the early years of the electric telegraph. The reader will learn how the Morse telegraph evolved into an international network that spanned the globe, starting with the development of international undersea cables, and the heroic attempts to lay a trans-Atlantic cable. The book describes the events that led to the invention of the telephone, and the subsequent disputes over who had really invented it. It takes a look at some of the most important applications that have appeared on the Internet, the mobile revolution, and ends with a discussion of future key developments in the telecommunications industry.

Report

From the reviews:
"It serves as a primer for anyone with an interest or need to know about telecommunications. With its assumption of little technical knowledge, and bright writing style, Dot-Dash To Dot Com is perfect for a layman to read. ... Dot-Dash To Dot Com strikes a thoughtful balance between the technical and human history. ... I certainly enjoyed and learned from it." (Bookbag, June, 2011)
"Wheen, an experienced UK-based telecommunications industry professional, presents a historical development of the telecommunications industry and demonstrates how inventions produced by the telecommunications revolution have changed the world. ... explains how the Internet works and what lies ahead. The book reserves the more detailed technical discussions for the appendixes. Well illustrated, with an extensive glossary of terms used by the telecommunications industry at the end. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries." (F. A. Cassara, Choice, Vol. 48 (10), June, 2011)
"Dot-Dash to Dot Com by Andrew Wheen ... is extremely easy to get straight into due to the author's interesting historical facts and entertaining anecdotes of events that occurred in the early days of telecommunications. ... I would definitely recommend this book to anyone generally interested in scientific historical books or if studying a telecommunications course. I found it an extremely easy read, very informative, well laid out with lots of great photos, some in color." (Hazel Jones, Engineering and Technology Magazine, Vol. 6 (3), March, 2011)
"Andrew Wheen has done an excellent job of making a potentially complex subject entertaining, informative and accessible. Communications technology is used by everyone, so the book is relevant to everybody ... . More technical detail is presented in a comprehensive section of footnotes - so 2 bookmarks are useful - and even more technical matters reside in Appendices that might be the realm of theserious A level student or first year undergraduate. ... If you use the telephone read this book." (W. Duncan, Amazon, July, 2011)

Product details

• Authors: Andrew Wheen
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 23.12.2010
• EAN: 9781441967596
• ISBN: 978-1-4419-6759-6
• No. of pages: 302
• Dimensions: 169 mm x 235 mm x 242 mm
• Weight: 536 g
• Illustrations: XVIII, 302 p.
• Series: Springer Praxis Books; Springer Praxis Books / Popular Science; Springer Praxis Books in Popular Science; Springer Praxis Books; Popular Science; Springer Praxis Books in Popular Science
• Subject: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Technology > Electronics, electrical engineering, communications engineering