Mail under Pressure
4Seiten

Städten Rohrpost- Technik erscheint, Zukunft wieder sein. The telegraph has been dubbed the 'Victorian Internet', but the pneumatic tube was definitely its Web 2.0. Starting in the mid 19th Century, many major eitles built extensive networks ofpneumatic tubesfor the quick delivery oftelegrams and letters. As outdated as this technology might seem, it was once synonymous for speed - and could be in thefuture. First a rumble, then a 'plop': That was the "you've got mail" of pur grandfathers and the generations before them. For more than a hundred years the pneumatic tube was siinply the fastest way to send handwritten mes- sages, fonns and letters. Large tube networks in cities and office buildings created a kind of internet for small physical objects. Telex, fax and ultimately the internet replaced these networks, but the fact that you (still) can't email pills, cash or other small parts makes sure that pneumatic tubes remain more than just a forgotten era in the history of telecom- The idea of using pipeline Systems for the movement of large solids is nttributed to

George Medhurst from Shoreham, Kent, England. In 1810, he published a pamphlet iii which he proposed the use of air for conveying letters and goods in 'packets' (capsules), with two tubes allowing letters to be transported in both directions "without the possibility of their clashing against each other". In one short document, Medhurst described a technology which would remain largely unchanged for a And it wasn't too long before bis idea was put to good use. The arrival of the telegraph led to a huge increase in long distance com- munication. Messages travelled between cities...

tube. Today these Systems are mainly ttsed in hospi- tals, but also in banks and shops to transfer cash. Auch Künstler haben die Rohrpost für sich entdeckt. Hier zwei Beispiele. at an average speed of 30 kilometres per hour requiring pressures of up to 1.8 bar. Initially, air differentials were created by steam-driven beam engines, but by the 1930s, two electri- cally driven compressors operated all street On arrival at their destination, the carriers were transferred to a house tube System. A 'rotary switch' acted as the link between the street and house Systems. Once stopped, the carrier...

tionierte die gesamt Druckbranche. Doch ihr Erfinder Ottmar Mergenthaler hatte in James Paige einen Wettbewerber mit einem bekannten Fürsprecher - Mark Twain. Mergenthaler gewann und Twain verlor sein Vermögen. From Gutenberg down through the 19th Centu- ry, typesetters all had to pick up, then position, *seelist one letter at a time. It was slow, intense work. In the early 1800s it became clear that that would have to change. The new fast presses were driving the Output of printed material skyward. In the 1820s inventors began looking designers for ways to medianize typesettiiig. In 1884...