Will Storr’s point about the shift in status, so that the prestige of discovery was able to break through the blocks of propriety-through-conformity, seems to apply.
I wonder if demand might play a role, though. The obvious rival to these systems is indeed the horse and rider. In many cases isn’t that a winner in terms of cost per bit of information? The exception seems to be times in war where speed is of the essence, but perhaps that is rare?
Excellent post Anton! I've toyed with the same question before but assumed cost was the primary barrier to mass deployment. Now you've got me reconsidering. I'm curious how a pre-industrial economy would be effected by such a technology. Would we expect greater market integration between cities for example?
This was a question that always bothered me, especially because of homing pigeons. Their ability to return home with a message was well known since Antiquity and unlike riders they could fly from ships at sea, from armies, scouts or spies in enemy territory and from besieged cities. Still we don't see a regular, large scale use of pigeon post until the nineteenth century, use which continued surprisingly all the way to WW2. Why?
Will Storr’s point about the shift in status, so that the prestige of discovery was able to break through the blocks of propriety-through-conformity, seems to apply.
https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780008354633/the-status-game/
I wonder if demand might play a role, though. The obvious rival to these systems is indeed the horse and rider. In many cases isn’t that a winner in terms of cost per bit of information? The exception seems to be times in war where speed is of the essence, but perhaps that is rare?
Excellent post Anton! I've toyed with the same question before but assumed cost was the primary barrier to mass deployment. Now you've got me reconsidering. I'm curious how a pre-industrial economy would be effected by such a technology. Would we expect greater market integration between cities for example?
This was a question that always bothered me, especially because of homing pigeons. Their ability to return home with a message was well known since Antiquity and unlike riders they could fly from ships at sea, from armies, scouts or spies in enemy territory and from besieged cities. Still we don't see a regular, large scale use of pigeon post until the nineteenth century, use which continued surprisingly all the way to WW2. Why?