What was the bandwidth of that telegraph link? And what were the clerical procedures for passing message text from a sending client to the telegraph operator at the sending end, and from the the telegraph operator to the recipient at the receiving end? Just how simultaneous was communication after the trans-Atlantic telegraph cable was laid? Much faster than any ship, surely, but fast enough (and inexpensive enough for most people?) for cheating on a Harvard entrance examination?

First contact was made in 1858, but the cable failed in mere days. The first reliable link happened in 1866. It ran about half "telegraph speed", which was pretty darn slow. I'd hate to connect to that bbs.

It's a fascinating read.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_telegraph_cable