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India’s telegram service goes dark after 163 years
Associated Press ^ | Jul 12, 2013 3:23 AM EDT | Nirmala George

Posted on 07/12/2013 2:05:49 AM PDT by Olog-hai

For 163 years, lives across the vast Indian nation have been upended by the knock of the khaki-clad postal worker armed with a telegram.

Families used them to announce births and deaths; the government used them to post job openings; young lovers sent them to tell their folks that they had eloped.

No longer.

On Monday, the state-run telecommunications company will send its final telegram, closing down a service that fast became a relic in an age of email, reliable landlines and ubiquitous cellphones.

The fact that the telegram survived this long is a testament to how deeply woven it is into the fabric of Indian society. In much of the rest of the world, telegrams long ago were relegated to novelty services used by people who wanted to indulge in a bit of nostalgia. …

(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Technical
KEYWORDS: cellphone; email; india; telegram

1 posted on 07/12/2013 2:05:49 AM PDT by Olog-hai
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To: Olog-hai

... -— ...


2 posted on 07/12/2013 2:16:37 AM PDT by Conspiracy Guy (To stay calm during these tumultuous times, I take Damitol. Ask your Doctor if it's right for you.)
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To: Olog-hai
The corresponding date for the US was 2006-01-27.
3 posted on 07/12/2013 2:26:46 AM PDT by cynwoody
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To: Conspiracy Guy
... -— ...

Would that be SOS or SWS or SMS?

SMS are very much alive, you know. Cash cow for the carriers.

4 posted on 07/12/2013 2:32:43 AM PDT by cynwoody
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To: cynwoody

When I hit post it was SOS. don’t know why the dashes hosed up. Let’s try again . . . - - - . . .


5 posted on 07/12/2013 2:35:36 AM PDT by Conspiracy Guy (To stay calm during these tumultuous times, I take Damitol. Ask your Doctor if it's right for you.)
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To: Conspiracy Guy

How's Doc going to get a message to Marty in the future without Western Union?!

6 posted on 07/12/2013 3:02:44 AM PDT by Flick Lives (We're going to be just like the old Soviet Union, but with free cell phones!)
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To: Olog-hai

You can still send a telegram in the U.S.A.

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


7 posted on 07/12/2013 4:00:42 AM PDT by vladimir998
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To: Flick Lives

By sending a text?


8 posted on 07/12/2013 4:19:46 AM PDT by Conspiracy Guy (To stay calm during these tumultuous times, I take Damitol. Ask your Doctor if it's right for you.)
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To: Olog-hai

.... .- .. .-.. / .- -. -.. / ..-. .- .-. . .— . .-.. .-..


9 posted on 07/12/2013 5:35:14 AM PDT by Bender2 ("I've got a twisted sense of humor, and everything amuses me." RAH Beyond this Horizon)
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To: Olog-hai

Tradition has it that the first telegram from Washington DC to Baltimore read “What hath God wrought?”

What would be the perfect text for this final telegram message almost 270 years later and halfway around the world?


10 posted on 07/12/2013 5:35:49 AM PDT by IronJack (=)
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