"We have no time to go below surfaces" (1891)

"a new communications technology was developed that allowed people to communicate almost instantly across great distances, in effect shrinking the world faster and further than ever before. A world-wide communications network whose cables spanned continents and oceans, it revolutionised business practice, gave rise to new forms of crime, and inundated its users with a deluge of information. Romances blossomed over the wires. Secret codes were devised by some users, and cracked by others. The benefits of the network were relentlessly hyped by its advocates, and dismissed by the sceptics. Governments and regulators tried and failed to control the new medium. Attitudes to everything from newsgathering to diplomacy had to be completely rethought. Meanwhile, out on the wires, a technological subculture with its own customs and vocabulary was establishing itself.

Does all this sound familiar?

From a precis of a whole book full of info about how the telegraph parallels the internet:

http://tomstandage.wordpress.com/books/the-victorian-interne...

I really liked the second comment.

This reminds me of the article decrying the horrible state of the country’s youth and how they heralded the end of the world. The article was written in ancient Greece.

Everything changes; everything remains the same.

Plus ça change...