Galloping Information
In a matter of seconds we can exchange information throughout just about the whole world. Today we can communicate many different types of information quickly and efficiently. Technology allows us to do this with items as small as a 4 inch cell phones. As we are impressed with the way society has evolved in spreading information, society 150 years ago was also impressed with its form of spreading news.
The Pony Express was the fastest and easiest way for people to send information and news during the early 1960's. Beginning in 1860, the Pony Express kept the western society of the connected with the Union on the east coast. Founded by William H. Russell, Alexander Majors, and William B. Waddell, it transported bundles of mail, containing news and information, by horseback to a chain of stations that acted as a relay. Each station was approximately 10 miles apart from each other and there was a total of about 160. The route was about 1,900 miles long and ran from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California. The Pony Express went through 8 of today's states. Information took about 10 days to reach the east coast from the west coast and vice versa.
10 days to transport information was exceptionally fast for this time period. It made it easier for people to communicate with others over America. Before the Pony Express there was a very efficient system of transporting information. People would have to travel themselves to spread news unless they had major significance. Today standard mail takes about 3 or 4 days to be delivered. Society 150 years ago was not too far behind us in getting information from one region to another by standard mail. During the mid 1800's was the prime of the gold rush in California. Many people needed to exchange information from the west coast to the people they knew on the east coast. When gold was first found in California, it took a few months for people to on the east coast to be informed. The pony Express lessened the time it took to exchange information by months.
The Pony Express only lasted about a year and a half (April 1860 to October 1861). its operation was short because the civil war began in 1861 and ceased its progression. It fully closed its operation two days after the telegraph was successfully operational. The Pony Express was sold to Wells Fargo for 1.5 million dollars. If it wasn’t for the telegraph who knows how much progress this information process could have made. While we may perceive our information process today to be the highest efficiency, future society will view our generation's information process as slow and much more inferior.
I really find it interesting how the transportation of information has changed and advanced so much in recent years. I remember when email was a new trend and people were able to share information quickly via email online. Now that technology has become even more advanced with instant messaging and text messaging. A person can send a text and the recipient can read it almost instantly. That speed is astounding. Also, with the constant improvements on technology we as a society are only going to adapt to more innovation like video recordings on cell phones and maybe even holograms for video calls. Who knows? We will just have to wait and see.
ReplyDeleteAlthough this was a skeletal-overview of the changes in information, it's still great to be reminded how far we have truly come. From the telegram to instant-messaging, the way we get our information is just as advanced as the information being carried by the technology itself. Because of information constantly changing, I really don't understand why Wells Fargo would purchase Pony Express since in just a few years or decades technology will soon surpass your investment (making it obsolete). I think it just goes to show how much power and anticipation the technology was and is getting that a young Well Fargo would spend $1.5 million in the 1860s on a system that may or may not last. I just thought it was interesting to see technology’s impact on society so greatly, indirectly.
ReplyDelete