The telegraph decisively separated communication from transportation

Evidence

The telegraph ended that identity and allowed symbols to move independently of geography and independently of and faster than transport. — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 813

Categorization

• DEFINE: Core Carey concept: before the telegraph, communication and transportation were synonymous words.
• XREF: This is the pivot for Carey’s whole communication-as-culture project, contrasting the transmission view with ritual view. — connects to: The telegraph displaced older languages, interactions, and city-state capitalism — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 776; The telegraph became a model for how people conceptualized communication — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 775; The transmission view of communication derives from nineteenth-century transport metaphors — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 244 (+4 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 813

Broader Connections

• The transmission view of communication derives from nineteenth-century transport metaphors #expands (0.70) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 244
• The telegraph made geography irrelevant to trade #expands (0.60) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 827
• Mechanical communication growth did not necessarily expand freedom and knowledge #complicates (0.55) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 650
• Historical investigation reveals the false limits of universal communication theory #responds-to (0.50) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 595