Eric Bender writes:

> At 02:37 PM 10/28/1998 EST, Wirt Atmar wrote:
>  >
>  >The moral perhaps is: these damn things just aren't that necessary :-).
>  >
>  >Yeah? Maybe not to get to the moon but just try sending all of us this
>  (e)mail instantly without a computer!

Actually, that capability was very well in place by the 1920's -- and Edison
himself was commissioned to work on the problem by the New York Stock Exchange
in the 1860's (see: http://www.tepia.or.jp/main/tickinfe.htm). The difference
that now primarily exists is the infrastructure, so that you can now grab the
image of Edison's stock ticker from Japan in just an instant.

Wirt