Nikola Tesla proposed to his financier JP Morgan a World Telegraph System, with a number of transmission stations that would send news to millions of personal devices distributed around the world. The electromagnetic signals would be distributed through the ground, exploiting standing waves and the planet’s resonant frequency. Although the idea of transmitting through the ground (and not through the air as Marconi did) never materialized, the idea of transmitting news to millions of portable devices was incredibly advanced for its time. Tesla spoke (in 1904) of “an inexpensive receiver, not bigger than a watch, will enable him to listen anywhere, on land or sea, to a speech delivered, or music played in some other place, however distant.” The idea of providing instant access to any information to anyone. This idea, which would later become the hallmark of globalization and consumerism, including information, was not at all obvious at the beginning of the 20th century. The prevailing culture was that of the production of goods, like railroads or steel. Edison had trouble thinking of his phonograph as a means of listening to music in every home: he envisioned it instead for business purposes: to record the speeches of businessmen. Morgan himself had always been involved in businesses related to producer culture, not consumer culture.
