Subj : barbed wire telephony
To   : All
From : Oli
Date : Fri Feb 18 2022 09:06:38

An article about DIY rural telephone system, partially using barbed wire as cable. I wonder if there ever was a BBS than ran over barbed wire ;)

"Before Ma Bell came to town, and long before DSL, it was barbed wire, of all things, that brought rural communities together. A Sears telephone hooked up to barbed wire - miles of which were already conveniently strung along fences - connected far-flung ranches in the recently settled American west. Thus an ingenious and unregulated telephone system sprung up a hundred years ago.

More than just physical wire differentiated these rural telephone systems and their more formal urban counterparts. Without switchboards, without individual lines, and without telephone fees, the barbed wire telephone system became its own social network. [...]"

Full article from 2014:
https://gizmodo.com/barbed-wire-fences-were-an-early-diy-telephone-network-1493157700

https://www.farmcollector.com/Farm-life/IT-ALL-TREW
https://www.inc.com/magazine/19970615/1416.html

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 * Origin: They're made out of meta (21:3/102)

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